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LETTERS 



TO 



A CANDID INQUIRER, 



ON 



ANIMAL MAGNETISM. 






BY 



WILLIAM GREGORY, M.D., F.R.S.E., 

PROFESSOR OF CHEMISTRY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH. 




PHILADELPHIA: 

BLANCHARD AND LEA. 

1851. 









PHILADELPHIA: 
T. K. AND P. G. COLLINS, PRINTERS. 



TO HIS GRACE 

GEORGE-DOUGLAS CAMPBELL, 

DUKE OF ARGYLL, K.T., F.R.S.E., &c. &c. &c. 

My Lord Duke, 

In availing myself of your Grace's kind permission to 
dedicate to you the following Letters, I do not venture to 
suppose that your Grace will adopt all the views which may 
be found in them ; but I am sure that every attempt, how- 
ever inadequate, to investigate obscure natural truths, or to 
urge the investigation on men of science, will meet with 
your Grace's hearty approbation. 

I rejoice, moreover, in this opportunity of expressing the 
very high respect which I entertain for your Grace's ardent 
devotion to truth, whether in natural science or in other 
fields of intellectual exertion, which has added new lustre 
to the historical glories of a name, immortally associated 
with the religious annals of Scotland. 

I have the honor to be, 

My Lord Duke, 
Your Grace's faithful Servant, 
WILLIAM GREGORY. 



PREFACE. 



The following Letters were projected, the plan sketched 
out, and a part of the work written, in the latter months of 
1849. But the translation of Reichenbach's Researches on 
Magnetism, and other labors, besides my absence abroad in 
the summer of 1850, have retarded its completion. This I 
do not regret: first, because, in the interval, Mr. Lewis and 
Dr. Darling, whose interesting experiments are fully no- 
ticed, have visited Edinburgh ; and secondly, because, 
partly in consequence of this, many of our scientific men 
have become convinced that there are many facts in Animal 
Magnetism, too long neglected, which must be investigated. 
Indeed several of them have actually commenced observa- 
tions on the subject. 

In later times, Animal Magnetism was first prominently 
brought before the British public by Mr. J. C. Colquhoun, 
in his "Isis Revelata," and other interesting works. But 
these works did not produce all the effect which might have 
been anticipated from the great learning and research they 
displayed, and the clear, logical style and temperate tone in 
which they were written; perhaps because, Mr. Colquhoun 
being a lawyer, and not a professed man of science, he may 
have been erroneously supposed, without investigation into 
his works, to be too credulous in this matter. Subsequently, 

1* 



VI PREFACE. 

Dr. Elliotson took up the subject, and has, in spite of much 
opposition, especially from his professional brethren, perse- 
vered in the practical study and application of Animal Mag- 
netism, with a constancy and devotion to truth that do him 
the highest honor. A considerable number of medical men 
have, in the course of time, rallied round him, and have, 
like him, recorded their observations in periodical works, 
especially in the Zoist. But Dr. Elliotson has not given to 
the world a systematic work on the subject. Two respected 
clergymen, the Rev. Messrs. Townsend and Sandby, have 
published small works on Mesmerism ; and more recently 
the Eev. Dr. Scoresby, so highly respected in the scientific 
world, has added another. These, with the Letters of Miss 
Martineau, the small works of Mr. Braid and Dr. Haddock, 
and one or two other works which I have not seen, make up 
the chief part of the English Literature on the subject, till 
the appearance, a very few years since, of Dr. Esdaile's 
interesting and valuable contribution to the medical part of 
the subject, his "Mesmerism in India." Still more re- 
cently, Mr. Herbert Mayo, a medical man of eminence, 
now retired from practice, has in various forms given to the 
public his experience. 

It might be supposed, that the works above mentioned 
would have spread abroad a general knowledge of the sub- 
ject, and would have had the more effect, because a large 
proportion of them proceeded from medical men, well quali- 
fied to investigate such a subject. But, whatever may have 
been the cause of it, nothing is more certain, than that a 
knowledge of Animal Magnetism has hitherto, in this 
country, been confined to a few, and that it is in the medi- 



PREFACE. vii 

cal profession that the fiercest opposition has been met with. 
In every society or company, the large majority do not even 
profess to have studied it, although that does not prevent 
many from expressing tolerably decided opinions. And we 
find, even among such as have paid a little attention to the 
subject, many ideas and views which are quite erroneous. 
In point of fact, therefore, a new work on Animal Magnet- 
ism is far from being superfluous ; and it is hoped that this 
humble effort may have its use, were it merely in exciting 
the attention of some, and correcting the false impressions 
of others. It makes no pretension to a full and systematic 
treatment of the vast subject; and its only object is to con- 
vince the reader that there exist, in nature, a multitude of 
most valuable and interesting facts, which, in spite of their 
appearing strange or incredible at first sight, are true, and, 
being so, demand and deserve the most patient and complete 
investigation. If I shall succeed in conveying to the reader's 
mind that conviction, my object will be attained, and we 
may look forward to the appearance of some one, qualified 
for, and willing to undertake, the herculean labor of a com- 
plete study of Animal Magnetism. 

There are various indications that the time is approaching, 
when the subject must receive the attention it deserves from 
men of science in general. Within the last ten years, there 
has been a growing interest in it, in all quarters, which is 
now reflected in the changed tone of many of the leading 
periodicals. But, besides this, scientific men begin to feel 
that they must attend to it, or be left behind. Perhaps this 
feeling has been considerably strengthened by the appear- 
ance of the work of Reichenbach, of the first part of which, 



Vlll PREFACE. 

the most material to this subject, I published an abstract in 
1846. In this work, without making any observations on 
the mesmeric sleep, but simply by studying, in the most 
strictly physical manner, the action of magnets, of crystals, 
of the hand, &c, on the human frame in the waking state, 
the Author has demonstrated the existence of a power, dis- 
tinct from all known influences, pervading universal nature, 
and capable of producing marked effects on healthy persons 
in the ordinary waking state. It was easy to see that 
Reichenbach, by following a different route, had discovered 
the same mysterious agent which Mesmer had called Ani- 
mal Magnetism; and that, while some of Mesmer's theories 
might probably be fallacious, yet the main facts had been 
fortified by these new observations, made in a manner so 
different, and, scientifically speaking, so satisfactory. Such, 
at least, was the impression which the study of Reichenbach's 
work produced on my own mind. I felt that, sooner or 
later, the whole subject would be investigated in the same 
way; and in the meantime, I was desirous to satisfy as 
many persons as possible, not only that certain most curious 
facts existed, but that they would all, in time, admit of a 
natural explanation. It was then, that I was repeatedly 
urged to publish what I happened to know on the subject, 
but various things interfered, and it was not till about 
eighteen months ago that I finally agreed, at the request of 
a friend, to write the following Letters. 

I have not ventured to direct attention to this interesting 
subject without due preparation, and some acquaintance 
with it, both theoretical and practical. My attention was 
first called to it in the autumn of 1827, by the late Dr. 






PREFACE. ix 

Coindet, senior, of Geneva, who lent me several works, 
among which was that of Dr. Petetin of Lyons, whose cases 
Dr. Coindet had seen. The perusal of these works con- 
vinced me that there were many extraordinary facts, which 
it was the business of men of science to investigate; and 
from that time I continued to read all the works on Animal 
Magnetism I could find. But it was not for a long time 
that I was enabled to see any of the phenomena. I was 
under the erroneous impression that the power of producing 
them was confined to a few, and consequently did not my- 
self try to do so. I took every opportunity, however, of 
seeing them, as produced by others, both in public and pri- 
vate; but for a long period these opportunities were few, 
and the higher phenomena did not occur. At length, I 
think about 1842 or 1843, when I resided in Aberdeen, I 
found that I could produce the magnetic sleep in persons in 
whom it had already been produced by others. In some 
instances, in which I tried to produce it for the first time 
myself, I failed, no doubt from want of perseverance, and 
thus I was still dependent on others for cases. But after a 
time, I found that I also, with the help of patience and 
perseverance, could produce the magnetic sleep, and many 
other phenomena. My professional engagements, however, 
prevented me from studying many cases, and it was only 
by slow degrees that I was enabled to see, in my own ex- 
perience and in that of others, almost all the phenomena of 
Animal Magnetism. I now find that it is not difficult to 
produce the magnetic sleep, and that, if we only try a suf- 
ficient number of cases, we are sure to meet with some in 
which the higher phenomena appear. Had I been able to 



X PREFACE. 

devote my whole time to the subject, instead of only an in- 
significant fraction of it, I should long ago have met with all 
those things which I have only seen by slow degrees. 

But, in justice to those who have labored and written on 
the subject, I must here state, that, even while I was unable 
myself to see, or to produce, the higher phenomena, such 
as those of clairvoyance, I considered the published evi- 
dence as amply sufficient to establish the facts. I found it 
quite impossible to reject the consistent testimony of so 
many able men, in all parts of the world, as to the exist- 
ence, in the magnetic sleep, of powers which in our ordinary 
state we do not possess. Many theories were broached, 
which appeared untenable ; but the facts were established 
by what appeared to me, before I had myself met with 
them, sufficient evidence. As there was no reason what- 
ever to doubt the honesty or truth of the observers, any 
more than the great ability of many of them, I could not 
feel justified in rejecting their evidence, because I was not 
able to account for the facts, or because I had not seen 
them. My seeing them would not add to the real force of 
the evidence, if, as I thought, that evidence was of good 
quality. Accordingly, I admitted the facts before seeing 
them, as is done every day in other branches of science, on 
good evidence. That they were unaccountable, or appeared 
so, made no real difference, inasmuch as we cannot, truly 
and ultimately, account for the best known natural facts; 
and I was well convinced that we know but a small part of 
the secrets of Nature. 

Accordingly, when in process of time I was enabled to 
see, and even myself to produce, these phenomena, I found 






PREFACE. XI 

that I could only confirm what had been stated, with most 
remarkable accuracy, by previous observers. And such 
has, I believe, been the uniform experience of all who have 
fairly investigated the matter for themselves. At least, 
every one among those whom I know, who has not con- 
tented himself with criticising the public experiments of 
others (always, for reasons I have elsewhere given, more or 
less unsatisfactory), but has patiently examined the subject 
in private, has ended by admitting the essential facts, as 
recorded by Mesmer and his successors, however strong his 
own prejudices may have been. It is a point of much im- 
portance, and worthy of especial notice, that the essential 
statements of the early writers have been confirmed by all 
who have really studied the subject. 

It is true that some of these have only confirmed a part 
of those statements; but this is because they have as yet 
only been enabled to see a part of the facts. Thus, within 
a few weeks, many scientific and medical men in Edinburgh 
and elsewhere, have become entirely satisfied of the truth, 
and of the very important nature, of certain facts which 
have been abundantly exhibited, on persons beyond all sus- 
picion, by Mr. Lewis and Dr. Darling. These facts, how- 
ever, constitute but a very small part of the vast subject ; 
they consist, namely, of those which demonstrate the power 
of suggestion or control exercised by the operator over the 
muscular motions, sensations, perceptions, memory, or voli- 
tion of susceptible subjects, when in a peculiar state, but 
not unconscious, nor in the magnetic sleep. On the con- 
trary, these persons are thoroughly conscious, and will rea- 
son on their feelings, and try, but often in vain, to resist 



Xll PREFACE. 

the influence of the operator. All this is now admitted, 
and nothing can be more extraordinary than these pheno- 
mena. But it is only a very short time since the whole of 
these very phenomena were denied and rejected. Nay, 
very recently, in a large city where Dr. Darling very often 
exhibited them, not one medical man of note did otherwise 
than reject them, and many even charged Dr. D. with im- 
posture. Those who here saw and studied the phenomena, 
acted more rationally, and have found that the statements 
originally made were correct. Yet the evidence was really 
the same before these gentlemen saw the phenomena, and 
has acquired no real addition of force by their having seen 
them. Having often seen these phenomena in the sleep, 
and having studied the evidence of their occurrence in the 
conscious state, I was satisfied that it was good, and that 
the phenomena did exist, before I saw them. It now ap- 
pears that I was right in this judgment. Now, I venture 
to apply this instance to that of the higher phenomena, 
which many persons, not having seen, deny, while they ad- 
mit such as they have seen. 

It must be observed, that they denied the latter also ; at 
least, to my certain knowledge, many did so before they 
saw them, when the real evidence was as good as now. 
And in regard to the higher phenomena, I would respect- 
fully urge, that the evidence for these, if examined, will be 
found as good as we can have for any fact, short of ocular 
proof. Now, as they have just found that evidence con- 
firmed, as to the lower phenomena, by what they have seen, 
the natural conclusion is, that they will also find it con- 
firmed in regard to the higher phenomena, as soon as they 



PREFACE. Xlll 

have the means of studying these. It is the evidence, in 
most cases, of the very same persons, whose testimony has 
been confirmed by them in those points in which alone they 
have tested it ; and it is illogical to reject that evidence, in 
regard to certain facts, merely because we have not seen 
them, when we have found it correct in regard to those facts 
which we have been able to see. 

I speak from experience, when I declare my conviction, 
that those scientific gentlemen who have lately seen and 
admitted certain beautiful and wonderful phenomena, will 
also, if they only examine for themselves, with patience and 
perseverance, see and admit all the essential phenomena 
which have not yet been presented to them. The truth is, 
that although good cases of the higher phenomena are not 
exactly rare, it is not easy to find cases in which we are 
allowed to exhibit these, even to a small number of persons; 
and, moreover, from the very nature of the facts, they can- 
not be exhibited to a large audience. The phenomena of 
suggestion, in the conscious state, admit, in good cases, of 
being shown in public; but those of the magnetic sleep, in- 
cluding clairvoyance, are not only unfit for public exhibi- 
tion, inasmuch as only those who are close to the sleeper 
can see or hear what he does or speaks, but very few per- 
sons will agree to be put to sleep in a large company, and 
of these, still fewer retain their powers in these circum- 
stances. 

In regard to clairvoyance, I have never seen it satisfac- 
torily exhibited, except quite in private; and I am bound 
to say, that in this point my experience has simply con- 
firmed the statements made by the best observers. I feel 
2 



XIV PREFACE. 

confident that every one who chooses to devote some time 
and labor to the investigation, may meet with it, either in 
his own cases, or, in the event of his not producing this phe- 
nomenon, as sometimes occurs, in those of his friends. 

In the following pages, I have first considered, generally, 
the objections commonly brought against the study of Ani- 
mal Magnetism. I have next endeavored to describe the 
phenomena in an order which, although not strict, for I 
found a strict arrangement unattainable at present, ap- 
peared convenient; and in Part II. I have collected a con- 
siderable number of facts and cases, a considerable propor- 
tion of which have occurred in my own experience, and the 
remainder have been kindly communicated to me by various 
friends, in whose accuracy I know that the utmost confi- 
dence may be placed. 

In Part I., after describing the phenomena, and briefly 
explaining certain useful applications of our knowledge on 
this subject, especially to medical purposes, and to the ex- 
planation of much that is obscure in what- is called Magic 
or Witchcraft, a great part of which appears to have rested 
on a knowledge of these phenomena, possessed by a few in 
an ignorant age, I have ventured to suggest, not as a fully 
developed theory, but simply as a conceivable idea, an ex- 
planation of the modus operandi in magnetic phenomena, 
especially in clairvoyance. I have endeavored to show, that 
if we admit the existence of that universally diffused power 
or influence, whatever be its true nature, the reality of 
which I conceive Reichenbach to have demonstrated, it then 
becomes possible to conceive the phenomena as resulting 
from the operation of natural causes. These speculations 



PREFACE. XV 

may be quite erroneous; but my sole object in putting 
them forth, is to show that we may hope some day to trace 
the natural relations of Animal Magnetism. That the phe- 
nomena depend on natural causes, cannot, I think, be 
doubted; and of all the known influences, that of odyle ap- 
pears to offer the best prospect of success to the investiga- 
tor. Whatever may be the essence of the influence which 
causes these phenomena, it is obvious, that it has analogies 
with heat, light, electricity, and ferro-magnetism;* and yet 
that it is not identical with any one of these. Such is pre- 
cisely the case with odyle; but when we consider the effects 
produced on the human frame by odyle, we find the pro- 
bability greatly increased, that Odyle and Animal Mag- 
netism are one and the same. Still, it must be remembered, 
that even if this idea should be shown hereafter to be erro- 
neous, the facts remain, and will one day find their proper 
place among the results of natural forces. 

In short, my object has been to draw the attention of sci- 
entific men to the existence of these remarkable phenomena ; 

* I must here correct a blunder in the Letters, in which I ascribe the term, 
ferro-magnetism to Dr. Faraday. I was led into this mistake by having heard, 
before I saw his recent researches, that he had proposed a new name for the 
magnetism of iron, nickel, cobalt, &c. He does indeed propose to include 
under the general term Magnetism, two forms of it; namely, Para-magnetism 
for that of the above metals, &c, and Dia-magnetism for the peculiar mag- 
netism of most other bodies. It was the word Para-magnetism which, on 
hearing it, I supposed was Ferro-magnetism. The mistake is of little im- 
portance, however, as I understand by Ferro-magnetism almost the same as 
Dr. Faraday does by Para-magnetism ; and I use the term in contradistinction 
to Vital or Animal Magnetism, or rather Odyle, since, although analogous to 
Magnetism, it is not identical with it, as Reichenbach has shown. 



XVI PREFACE. 

and, so far from regarding them as understood, or attaching 
any value to any attempts I have made to suggest explana- 
tions of them, my earnest desire is, that men of science 
should investigate Animal Magnetism, just as they would 
any other class of natural facts, feeling convinced that it is 
only in this way that they can ever be at all understood, 
and that if scientific men ignore their existence, and refuse 
to examine them, they will nevertheless continue to exist, 
and will be studied by others ; for they cannot now be safely 
neglected. 

I have but briefly alluded to the history of Animal Mag- 
netism, and to its relations with the Ancient Magic, Divi- 
nation, and Oracles; because I understood that this inter- 
esting department of the subject was in far better hands, 
those, namely, of Mr. J. C. Colquhoun, the veteran author 
of "Isis Revelata," and other works. The student of 
Magnetism will anxiously look for Mr. C.'s work. 

I cannot conclude without gratefully acknowledging my 
obligations to Earl Stanhope, to the Earl of Eglinton, to 
Sir Walter C. Trevelyan, to Major Buckley, to Dr. J. W. 
Haddock, to Dr. Macculloch, and to Mr. H. Gr. Atkinson, 
for the communications with which they have so kindly 
favored me. The reader will find, in the work recently 
published by Mr. Atkinson and Miss Martineau, many 
striking facts connected with Animal Magnetism, which is 
one of the subjects treated of. Mr. Atkinson's observa- 
tions on the functions of different parts of the brain, as ex- 
hibited in the magnetic sleep, are of the highest value, from 
that gentleman's great experience, and intimate knowledge 
of the subject. I should have made use of them, but his 



PREFACE. Xvii 

work did not appear until the whole of the First Part of 
mine was written. The excellent letter of the Rev. A. Gril- 
mour will speak for itself: and I have also to thank a large 
number of friends whose names do not appear. 

I would here particularly point out, that in Part II. I 
have in general abstained from quoting published cases, and 
have only done so where it was necessary for illustration, or 
where I could refer to no unpublished cases of a similar 
kind. It is obvious, that if I had attempted to collect all 
the recorded and well-attested cases of the higher pheno- 
mena, although the evidence would have been infinitely 
strengthened, the work would have attained a most incon- 
venient bulk. I have therefore, by giving chiefly unpub- 
lished cases, endeavored to show that any one who chooses, 
may obtain evidence of the facts. And I must here repeat, 
that the evidence brought forward in this work, is as no- 
thing to the prodigious mass of well-observed and well-at- 
tested cases, to be found in the various works and periodi- 
cals on the subject, from the time of Mesmer to the present 
day. Few people have studied that evidence, so as to have 
any accurate idea either of its amount or of its quality, and 
my object will be gained, if I can induce the reader to make 
himself in some degree acquainted with it. If this be done, 
it will be found impossible to retain the notion, so prevalent 
among such as have not attended either to the practice or to 
the literature of Animal Magnetism, that the alleged facts 
are the result of imposture or of delusion ; or to resist the 
conviction, which investigation will confirm, that the essen- 
tial facts, however apparently marvellous, are yet true, and 
have been faithfully reported. Lastly, I would urge on the 

2* 



XV111 PREFACE. 

reader, the important consideration, which to me appears 
the turning point of the controversy, that all, even the most 
marvellous facts of Magnetism, have occurred spontaneously, 
without any magnetic process. This is precisely what we 
should expect, if the artificial phenomena be true, and de- 
pend on natural causes ; and, on the other hand, the un- 
doubted occurrence of sleep-walking, sympathy, and clair- 
voyance, as spontaneous phenomena, naturally leads to the 
expectation that they may be produced by artificial means. 



CONTENTS. 



PART I. — General Description and Analysis of the 
Phenomena. 

PAGE 

LETTER I. 

Objections to Animal Magnetism considered. Objection of Incredibility 
or Impossibility. No natural fact is fully explained. Objection of 
Imposture. Spontaneous occurrence of the Phenomena, - - -25 

LETTER II. 

Objection from Public Failures. Causes of Failure numerous. Influence 
of the Bystanders. Variety in the Phenomena. Absurd Conditions 
dictated by Sceptics. Public Tests unsatisfactory. Supposed Hostility 
of the Leaders of Science. Lower Phenomena Admitted ; higher 
Denied. Gradual Progress. The World's Opinion. Medical Men 
looked to, ... 38 

LETTER III. 

Objections founded on Religion and Morality; on the Abuses of Magnet- 
ism. Magnetism classed with Forbidden Arts. Said to lead to Mate- 
rialism and Infidelity. Vagueness of the Charge of Materialism. 
Magnetism ascribed to Imagination. Said to be of no Practical Value. 
Magnetism must be Studied, - - - 54 

LETTER IV. 

Animal Magnetism. Names given to it. First Effects produced. Sen- 
sations. Process for causing Magnetic Sleep. The Sleep or Magnetic 
State. It occurs spontaneously in Sleep-walkers. Phenomena of the 
Sleep. Divided Consciousness. Senses Affected. Insensibility to 
Pain, 73 



XX CONTENTS. 



LETTER V, 



Control exercised by the Operator over the Subject in various Ways. 
Striking Expression of the Feelings in Look and Gesture. Effect of 
Music. Truthfulness of the Sleeper. Various Degrees of Suscepti- 
bility. Sleep caused by Silent Will; and at a Distance. Attraction to- 
wards the Operator. Effect in the Waking State of Commands given 
in the Sleep, 88 

LETTER VI. 

Sympathy. Community of Sensations : of Emotions. Danger of Rash 
Experiments. Public Exhibitions of Doubtful Advantage. Sympathy 
with the Bystanders. Though t-Reading. Sources of Error. Medical 
Intuition. Sympathetic Warnings. Sympathies and Antipathies. Ex- 
istence of a Peculiar Force or Influence, -101 

LETTER VII. 

Direct Clairvoyance or Lucid Vision, without the Eyes. Vision of near 
Objects : through Opaque Bodies : at a Distance. Sympathy and Clair- 
voyance in regard to Absent Persons. Retrovision. Intro vision, - 116 

LETTER VIII. 

Lucid Prevision. Duration of Sleep, &c. predicted. Prediction of Changes 
in the Health or State of the Seer. Prediction of Accidents, and of 
Events affecting others. Spontaneous Clairvoyance. Striking Case 
of it. Spontaneous Retrovision and Prevision. Peculiarities of Speech 
and of Consciousness in Magnetized Persons. Transference of Senses 
and of Pain, 132 



LETTER IX. 

Animal Magnetism, Mesmerism, Electro-biology, Electro-Psychology, and 
Hypnotism, essentially the same. Phenomena of Suggestion in the 
Conscious or Waking State. Dr. Darling's Method and its Effects. Mr. 
Lewis's Method and its Results. The Impressible State. Control 
exercised by the Operator. Gazing. Mr. Braid's Hypnotism. The 
Author's Experience. Importance of Perseverance. The Subject 
must be Studied, ---------- 151 



CONTENTS* xxi 



LETTER X. 



Trance, Natural and Accidental; Magnetic. Trance Produced at Will 
by the Subjects. Col. Townsend. Faquirs. Extasis. Extatics not 
all Impostors. Luminous Emanations. Extasis often Predicted. M. 
Cahagnet's Extatics. Visions of the Spiritual World, - - - - 168 

LETTER XL 

Phreno-magnetism. Progress of Phrenology. Effects of Touching the 
Head in the Sleep. Variety in the Phenomena. Suggestion. Sym- 
pathy. There are cases in which these act, and others in which they 
do not act. Phenomena Described. The lower Animals susceptible 
of Magnetism. Fascination among Animals. Instinct. Sympathy 
of Animals. Snail Telegraph founded on it, 179 

LETTER XII. 

Action of Magnets, Crystals, &c, on the Human Frame. Researches of 
Reichenbach. His Odyle is identical with the Magnetic Fluid of 
Mesmer, or with the Influence which causes the Magnetic Phenomena. 
Odylic or Magnetic Light. Aurora Borealis artificially Produced. 
Magnetised Water. Useful Applications of Magnetism, Physiological, 
Therapeutical, &c. Treatment of Insanity. Magic, Divination, Witch- 
craft, &c, explained by Animal Magnetism, and traced to Natural 
Causes. Apparitions. Second Sight is Waking Clairvoyance. Pre- 
dictions of various kinds, - -192 

LETTER XIII. 

An Explanation of the Phenomena attempted or suggested. A Force 
(Odyle) universally diffused, certainly exists, and is probably the me- 
dium of Sympathy and Lucid Vision. Its Characters. Difficulties of 
the Subject. Effects of Odyle. Somnambulism. Suggestion. Sym- 
pathy. Thought-reading. Lucid Vision. Odylic Emanations. Odylic 
Traces followed up by Lucid Subjects. Magic and Witchcraft. The 
Magic Crystal, and Mirror, &c., induce Waking Clairvoyance. Uni- 
versal Sympathy. Lucid Perception of the Future, - - - -218 

LETTER XIV. 

Concluding Remarks. Interest felt in the Subject by Men of Science. 
Due Limits of Scientific Caution. Practical Hints. Conditions of Suc- 
cess in Experiments. Cause of Failure. Magnetism a serious thing. 
Cautions to the Student. Opposition to be expected, - - 242 



XX11 CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

PAST II. — Facts and Cases ; with Observations. 

LETTER XV. 

Phenomena observed in the Conscious or Waking State. Effects of Sug- 
gestion on Persons in an Impressible State. Mr. Lewis's. Experiments 
with and without Suggestion. — Cases. Dr. Darling's Experiments. — 
Cases. Conscious or Waking Clairvoyance, produced by Passes, or by 
Concentration. Major Buckley's Method. — Cases. The Magic Crys- 
tal induces Waking Lucidity, when gazed at. — Cases. Magic Mirror. 
Magnetised Water. Egyptian Magic, 257 

LETTER XVI. 

Production of the Magnetic Sleep. — Cases. Eight out of nine Persons 
recently tried by the Author thrown into Magnetic Sleep. Sleep pro- 
duced without the knowledge of the Subject. Suggestion in the Sleep. 
Phreno-Magnetism in the Sleep. Sympathetic Clairvoyance in the 
Sleep. — Cases. Perception of Time. — Cases ; Sir J. Franklin ; Major 
Buckley's case of Retro vision, - - - - - - - -281 

LETTER XVII. 

Direct Clairvoyance, — Cases. Travelling Clairvoyance. — Cases. Singu- 
lar Visions of Mr. D. Letters of two Clergymen, with Cases. Clair- 
voyance of Alexis. Other Cases, 312 

LETTER XVIII. 

Trance. Extasis. Cases. Spontaneous Magnetic Phenomena. Appari- 
tions. Predictions, 352 

LETTER XIX. 

Curative Agency of Magnetism. Concluding Remarks, and Summary, - 373 



PART I. 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION AND ANALYSIS 
OF THE PHENOMENA. 



LETTERS 



ON 



AJNIMAL MAGNETISM, 



LETTER I. 



My Dear Friend, 

It is with sincere pleasure that I agree to your request, 
and that I now undertake, in rny few moments of leisure, 
to give you some account of Animal Magnetism, and to ex- 
plain to you why I attach so little importance, to the objec- 
tions frequently urged, by men of all classes, against the 
results said to have been obtained by those who have investi- 
gated the subject, and, indeed, against the very study and 
investigation of the phenomena included under the name of 
Animal Magnetism. 

As these phenomena are both numerous and varied in 
their character, the subject is one of considerable extent, 
and I shall avail myself of the convenient form of Letters, 
in which, as I may find opportunity to write them, I shall 
take up different parts of it in succession. 

I repeat, that I do this with pleasure, because, in the 
conversations we have had on this matter, you have shown an 
ardent desire to ascertain the truth, along with a very lauda- 
ble degree of caution in admitting facts of so startling a 
nature ; you have shown a rational incredulity, without any 
share of that irrational scepticism which is so often applied 
to this as well as to all other new investigations. Had I 
ever found in you the latter form of spirit, I should not, 
believe me, have thought it worth while to enter on the sub- 



26 TIME THE BEST CURE 

ject further. Unless men are not only actuated by the sin- 
cere love of truth for its own sake, hut are also agreed as 
to certain general laws, applicable to such matters, they 
cannot with profit or with satisfaction discuss them at all. 

Time is the best, perhaps the only cure for that tone or 
state of mind, which would unhesitatingly reject facts, 
alleged on respectable testimony, for no other reason than 
that they appear absurd, incredible, or, in a vague sense, 
impossible ; or because the observer is utterly unable to ac- 
count for them ; or because they seem, if admitted, to con- 
tradict the notions entertained by the sceptic on certain 
other scientific points ; or, finally, because they seem, at 
first sight, to lead to conclusions adverse to, or inconsistent 
with, the received interpretation of Holy Scripture, and to 
tend, in the opinion of the sceptic, to results unfavorable to 
morality. When we argue a question of physical fact with 
one who is persuaded that such objections, as applied to 
alleged facts, possess either logical consistency or cogency, 
no considerations that we can adduce have the slightest 
effect, so long as that fallacy prevails in the mind. And as 
far as my experience goes, I should say, that that fallacy, 
resting, as it does, on estimable feelings, but not arrived at 
by any sound logical or intellectual process, and therefore 
fortified by some of the strongest emotions of our nature, 
cannot be removed by mere argument. 

Time, however, is more powerful. The strongest preju- 
dices of mankind gradually yield to its influence, especially 
when this is aided by the constant recurrence of the alleged 
facts; which, of course, must always happen, when such 
alleged facts are true. 

Time put an end to the violent opposition which w T as 
offered to the system of Copernicus, on the ground that it 
not only contradicted the evidence of our senses, according 
to which the sun revolves round the earth, but was directly 
contrary to the plainest declarations of Scripture. It was 
time which, aided by the discovery of the New World, 
finally established, in the pubic mind, the truth that the 
Earth is spherical; a truth rejected by the most learned 
professors, on account of the inherent absurdity of the idea 
of antipodes, its necessary consequence ; of the impossibility 
of the existence of countries where men walked head down- 
wards, and trees grew downwards in the air from their roots 



FOR OBSTINATE PREJUDICES. 27 

in the soil; and also on account of its inconsistency "with 
the scriptural truth, that the heavens are spread over the 
earth like a tent. Let us think of Columbus trying in vain 
to convince geographers and astronomers of the probable 
existence of a western hemisphere, and branded by them as 
an adventurer and impostor, up to the day of his sailing on 
his first voyage, and only two years before his return to 
Spain, with his ships laden with the gold of the new conti- 
nent: let us think of his fate, and we can easily see how 
the promulgator of true facts in Animal Magnetism may be 
decried and reviled as a visionary and a cheat. 

Time alone established the doctrine of the circulation of 
the blood, a doctrine so obviously founded on the most 
easily observable facts, that we can hardly now conceive how 
it could be doubted. Many learned doctors rejected it till 
their dying day. And, at the present day, it is Time which 
is gradually but surely dissipating the prejudices which we 
can all remember to have seen in full vigor against Geology, 
because, in the opinion of many good men, it contradicted 
the -Mosaic account of the creation. Men now begin to 
perceive that, the better geology is understood, the more 
perfectly does it harmonize even with the brief account 
given by Moses; and that, to reconcile them, we need not 
to abandon one established fact. No one thinks now of 
maintaining that mountain ranges, of miles in depth, bear- 
ing, in unmistakable characters, the evidence that hundreds 
and thousands of generations of living creatures lived, died, 
and were embalmed in the rock during its formation ; that 
such masses of rock were formed in their present shape 
within one or even six of our present days. Time is pro- 
ducing the conviction that the facts of geology, like those 
of astronomy, cannot really clash with scriptural truth ; in 
short, that one truth cannot possibly contradict another 
truth ; and that, instead of injuring the credit of scriptural 
truth, geology, like all true science, serves only more firmly 
to establish it. 

So also will it be with the truths of Animal Magnetism. 
In so far as they are, or shall hereafter be, established as 
truths, they will ultimately be found not to interfere with, 
but to corroborate scriptural truth. And it is to Time that 
we must look for this result, provided we do our duty in 
ascertaining natural truths. Therefore, as I have said, I 



28 FACTS NOT TO BE REJECTED 

should never tliink of trying to overcome, by argument, the 
prejudices I have alluded to, when they possess strongly 
the mind, in reference to Animal Magnetism, but would 
leave the conversion of such prejudiced persons, like that of 
the Ptolemaic Astronomers of old, and of the opponents of 
geology in modern days, to the omnipotent arm of Time. 

But while I should despair of convincing, by argument, 
any one whose mind was strongly influenced by the pre- 
judiced feelings above alluded to, I think it right, before 
entering on the special subject of Animal Magnetism, to 
touch more fully on some of these prejudiced and fallacious 
objections ; because they are frequently started by persons 
who are not so completely blinded by prejudice as some are, 
and who take them up without due reflection. Such per- 
sons may be convinced that these objections are essentially 
groundless, when we can induce them to examine them 
strictly, and thus to discover how illogical, as well as how 
entirely opposed to all justice and good feeling, they are. 
Of course I allude here, only to the most general form of 
such objections. Specially, I shall have to notice them 
hereafter. 

First, then : It is often said, that the alleged facts are 
obviously incredible and impossible, and must, therefore, be 
rejected without enquiry. I need not point out to you, that 
this very common objection involves a complete petitio prin- 
cipii, or rather, a "series of such beggings of the question. 
But I may nevertheless observe, that it assumes a complete 
knowledge on our part, of what is, and is not, possible. 
He who is most deeply conversant with all branches of 
natural science, and with the extent of our knowledge, will, 
like Newton, be the first to confess, that such a pretension, 
on our part, is ludicrously unfounded; that he is, as Newton 
said of himself, a boy gathering pebbles on the sea-shore, and 
knowing scarce anything of the vast ocean of truth that rolls 
at his feet. There are some things which we know to be im- 
possible. It is, for example, impossible for two and two to 
make more or less than four. It is impossible for the three 
angles of any triangle to exceed or fall short of two right 
angles, or 180°. It is impossible for a living or dead mass 
of matter to be in two or more places at the same time. 
But it will bo found on examination, that none of the facts, 
alleged to occur in Animal Magnetism, arc impossible in 



AS IMPOSSIBLE OR INCREDIBLE. 29 

this sense. They are only, at the utmost, exceedingly 
difficult, or rather, it is exceedingly difficult to account for 
or explain them. We cannot even say tha it is impossible to 
transmute lead into gold ; for we are ignorant of the inti- 
mate nature of these metals ; nay we only call them ele- 
ments or simple bodies, because we cannot prove them to 
be otherwise. And, even if they were absolutely simple, it 
is not inconceivable, nor absolutely impossible, that they 
might be mutually convertible, and that the difference in 
their properties might depend on a mere difference in the 
mode of arrangement of the ultimate atoms, these last being, 
in their own nature, all identical ; just as phosphorus, sul- 
phur and carbon, three non-metallic elements (as far as we 
know) appear to us each of them in at least two totally dis- 
tinct forms, differing as much from each other as sulphur 
does from phosphorus, or phosphorus from carbon, that is, 
in physical external properties. And yet, while we cannot 
say that the transmutation of lead to gold is impossible, no 
one has, in modern times, professed to transmute lead into 
gold, and still less has any one ventured to say that all can 
accomplish that transmutation. Whereas, the alleged facts 
of Animal Magnetism have not only been repeatedly ob- 
served and produced by well-qualified experimenters, but 
they have been described in such a way as to enable all 
who choose to produce them at pleasure. 

It is, therefore, in the highest degree illogical to reject 
these facts, because of their alleged impossibility or incredi- 
bility; which can mean nothing more, than that we find it 
impossible to account for them, and are, therefore, entitled 
without inquiry to reject them. 

This, indeed, is the second form of general objections 
usually brought forward against the alleged facts of Ani- 
mal Magnetism. "How," it is said, "do you account for 
them? How can you explain them, without rejecting all 
established knowledge of the laws of nature?" And the 
objector, not receiving, at once, a satisfactory answer to 
these enquiries, makes up his mind to reject the alleged 
facts, and to regard them as quite unworthy of investiga- 
tion. 

This objection, as I have shown, is essentially the same 
as the former. It is, therefore, the same as that which 
was urged by the opponents of Copernicus, Galileo, Colum- 

3* 



30 FACTS, TO BE ACCOUNTED FOE, 

bus, Newton, and Harvey, as well as in numberless other 
cases. It proceeds on the assumption, that we know all the 
laws of nature ; and that the observer of a fact is bound to 
account for it, before he can challenge belief of the fact 
itself. 

I need hardly point out how utterly illogical this is. It 
is obvious, that, in order to account for any fact or series 
of facts, we must first know and admit them as facts. The 
great merit of such men as Kepler, Copernicus, Galileo, 
and Newton, was that they made use of the facts established 
by earlier astronomers, w T ho certainly could not truly 
account for them. Yet the facts were admitted by these 
great men, who, by arranging and comparing them, as well 
as by adding to them, gradually attained to those general 
laws of astronomy, by which the facts are accounted for, 
and may be predicted in their continual recurrence, with 
the utmost accuracy. The discovery of Neptune by Lever- 
rier, was the result of an attempt to account for certain 
unaccountable perturbations in the motions of Uranus or 
other planets, which perturbations were necessarily ob- 
served and admitted before their cause could be discovered. 
Why then should those who have observed, with care and 
labor, the most interesting facts in Animal Magnetism, be 
called on to account for them, before the facts are admitted? 
Why are these men to be subjected to an ordeal never 
dreamed of in other branches of science ? There is evi- 
dently, here, a fallacy; and I conceive that fallacy to be a 
lurking opinion, that we are now acquainted with all the 
natural laws. Hence, whatever cannot be at once accounted 
for in accordance with our views of the general laws of 
nature, we are apt to hold as impossible, or at least un- 
worthy of attention. 

But I think you will find, as we proceed, that there is 
nothing in Animal Magnetism at all inconsistent with, or 
contrary to, the well-established physical laws admitted by 
philosophers. It may be that these facts will hereafter lead 
us to new laws, but in order to attain to these, the facts 
must be studied ; and it is at least equally probable, that 
they may one day be ranged under the known laws ; and 
there is no reason whatever, so far as I know, to anticipate 
that they will contradict the established laws of physical 
science. Even if they appeared to do so, however, these 



MUST BE KNOWN AND STUDIED. 31 

facts would only be in the same position as were the great 
facts of astronomy when first announced. Those who re- 
ject the facts of Animal Magnetism at the present day, 
because they seem to them inconsistent with natural laws, 
are only imitating the conduct of those learned men who 
refused to look at the satellites of Jupiter through the tele- 
scope of Galileo. The wilful blindness of these ancient 
sages, however, has not annihilated the fact of the exist- 
ence and the revolutions of those satellites ; neither will the 
rejection of the facts of Animal Magnetism interfere with 
the occurrence of these facts, which, to those who avail 
themselves of the telescope of observation, will continue to 
exhibit themselves till some Newton arises to account for* 
them. 

I must observe, further, that many have very erroneous 
ideas of the extent to which even those admitted facts, for 
example, the facts of astronomy, which are best understood, 
are really explained or accounted for by the admitted laws 
of nature. 

Every one knows that one of the most important of these 
laws, in reference to astronomy, is the law of gravitation. 
Now this law assumes that there exists between ail masses 
of matter in the universe, a mutual attraction, in conse- 
quence of which they tend towards each other with a force 
which varies directly as their mass and inversely as the 
square of the distance between them. Assuming this, all 
the facts are explained ; and it is quite logical to conclude, 
that the assumption which explains all the facts, and enables 
us even to predict them, is true. But does this law of the 
force of gravitation, the law according to which it varies, 
account for or explain the fact of gravitation? Why do 
two masses of matter tend towards each other? Why do 
they do so with a force varying as above described ? The 
only answer to this question is, that there is an attraction 
between them, that they mutually attract each other. But 
this, it will be perceived, is merely stating, in other words, 
the fact itself, and not the cause of it. The law of gravita- 
tion laid clown by Newton, when once admitted, explains or 
accounts for the facts of gravitation, but does not touch the 
cause of them. It shows the shape and limits of the force, 
but leaves us in the dark as to its real nature. And the 
same is true of ail natural laws ; of the laws of heat, light. 



32 HYSTERIA AND SIMULATION 

electricity, galvanism, magnetism proper, chemical ac- 
tion, &c. 

In like manner, if, as is most probable, *we snail never 
succeed in detecting the ultimate cause on which the facts 
of Animal Magnetism depend, we may yet, by diligent ob- 
servation of these facts, and by reflection on them, discover 
the laws which regulate them, and thus explain or account 
for the facts, in the same sense and in the same degree, as 
we explain or account for the facts of astronomy, electricity, 
heat, light, and magnetism proper; in none of which cases 
are we able to point out the ultimate cause or the true es- 
sence of the phenomena, Nor need we fear that the laws 
of Animal Magnetism, once discovered-, shall contradict or 
clash with those already ascertained in other branches of 
science. 

Thirdly, it is often objected, that the facts of Animal 
Magnetism are observed only, or chiefly, in nervous, hyste- 
rical persons, commonly females, on whose statements no 
reliance can be placed. In answer to this objection, I would 
observe, that even if the truth were as here stated, it would 
not constitute a valid objection to facts ascertained with due 
care and caution. Many of the facts of medicine are thus 
obtained ; and the argument goes at most to show, that such 
observations have difficulties peculiar to themselves. But it 
cannot be maintained, least of all by medical men, that these 
difficulties are insurmountable, and they ought only to stimu- 
late us to increased care in observing. Farther, a fact is not 
the less a fact, because it occurs as a symptom of nervous or 
hysterical disease. Such facts, like all others, must be 
studied, and it is only by studying them that we can ascer- 
tain how far they are consistent with each other, and with 
other facts. Many of them admit of verification indepen- 
dently of the patients or subjects, and do not rest on their 
testimony ; as, for example, cataleptic rigidity. 

But the objection, in point of fact, is not well founded. 
It is probable that the facts, or some of the facts of Animal 
Magnetism, may have been first noticed in such cases, be- 
cause a nervous hysterical state of the system renders the 
subject more susceptible, in general, to the magnetic influ- 
ences. But all who have attended even slightly to these 
phenomena, must know that magnetic phenomena are daily 
produced on persons in health as perfect as is known to hu- 



DO NOT EXPLAIN THE FACTS. 33 

inanity, and in males as easily and completely as in females. 
This objection must, therefore be relinquished. 

Fourthly, it is very often said, and that by persons from 
whom better things might be expected, that the subjects of 
magnetic operations simulate or act the phenomena; in other 
"words, that they are impostors, and that the observers are 
at least their dupes, if not their accomplices. I have often 
heard all these charges made, without a shadow of reason, 
save the strangeness of the phenomena. An educated per- 
son who saw some of these strange phenomena exhibited a 
few days ago on a young man, of whom he knew nothing, 
by a mesmerist, of whoni he knew only that he was con- 
sidered by those who knew him to be an honest man, told 
me he was sure the youth had been bribed by the mesmerist 
to act what he saw. And this, although a somewhat ex- 
treme case, is only a specimen of the line of argument pur- 
sued by many educated persons. 

In answer to such assertions, I would observe, first, that 
nothing can justify us in ascribing dishonesty or imposture 
to persons of otherwise blameless character, merely because 
they exhibit to us phenomena which we cannot understand 
or imagine to be possible. The evidence of persons of bad 
character ought to be entirely rejected, and the evidence of 
all persons ought to be carefully sifted; but it is unjust and 
cruel, it is in the highest degree immoral, to brand with the 
charge of deceit, without enquiry into the truth, persons 
whose character, so far as we know, is irreproachable. 

Again, I would point out, that many of the phenomena 
cannot be simulated at all. Such are, the acceleration of 
the pulse, while its strength diminishes ; the insensibility to 
light, and the fixed state of the pupil, and generally the state 
of the eye during magnetic sleep ; the very common and ut- 
ter insensibility of the ear to all sounds, save the voice of 
the magnetiser ; the complete insensibility to pain, seen in 
certain stages ; and cataleptic rigidity of the limbs ; besides 
many others. It is easy, by a little investigation, to become 
satisfied of these phenomena. 

Further, the acting, if acting it be, in reference to other 
phenomena, is so perfect and beautiful, so true to nature, 
that, on the assumption of imposture, we must ascribe to 
every apprentice boy or girl, educated or not, mimic powers 
of the very highest order, such as would do honor even to a 



34 THE CHARGE OF IMPOSTURE 

Garrick or a Siddons. This would be, in my opinion, far 
more difficult to believe than that the phenomena were 
genuine. 

Besides, there is, in the experiments made in the privacy 
of the philosopher's cabinet, as all experiments on which we 
intend to found conclusions ought to be made, absolutely no 
motive for simulation or acting. I have seen the most beau- 
tiful phenomena in private ; nay, I have often produced them, 
in persons whom no consideration, had it been tried, could 
have induced to deviate from strict truth ; and I have no 
reason to suppose that others could have been at all more 
likely to deceive, in whom these phenomena have been thou- 
sands of times observed. It often happens, that magnetism 
is used to relieve pain, much oftener than is generally known 
or avowed ; and in such cases, where the patient has perhaps 
to be magnetised 20, 50, 100, or even 500 times, certain 
phenomena, not at all looked for, nay, not wished for when 
they do come, present themselves. The operator is com- 
monly called on by the patient to observe them, and both are 
surprised to see them. In many cases, also, where the mag- 
netic sleep and higher phenomena have occurred, the opera- 
tor has had to continue the troublesome process of passes, 
&c. for 20, 50, 100, or 500 successive days, before he has 
obtained the desired result, nay, often before he has obtain- 
ed any distinct effect at all. I need not say how utterly ir- 
reconcileable all this is with the notion of imposture. 

I would here particularly point out to you the great force 
of the evidence obtained in favor of the genuine nature of 
the phenomena, and the sincerity of both operator and sub- 
ject, by closely watching, in private of course, the process 
of inducing the magnetic sleep for the first time, whether it 
be done by a practiced operator or by yourself, for example. 
The appearances exhibited as the operation proceeds, the 
change in the eyes as sleep begins to approach, the remark- 
able alteration in the expression of the countenance, in the 
voice, and in the manner of the sleeper, not to speak of his 
hearing and answering without waking ; and, finally, his ut- 
ter unconsciousness, when awakened, of all that has passed, 
but especially the changes above specified, and the whole 
gesture and natural language of the sleeper ; — these things 
are amply sufficient, in the case of an utter stranger, to 



UNJUSTIFIABLE AND GROUNDLESS. 35 

banish all idea of simulation or deception ; for which, in the 
case of a person known to us, there is, besides, no room. 
* The cry of imposture is no new one. It was raised 
against Columbus; it was raised, and fiercely too, against 
Bruce, when he detailed his Abyssinian discoveries, because 
these appeared impossible to the critics. It is well known 
how deeply Bruce, whose character was previously unim- 
peached, felt the imputation of falsehood. He retired to 
his country-seat, and, with a bitter sense of injustice, await- 
ed the award of Time. It came— whether too late for him 
I know not, but subsequent discoverers have confirmed the 
most startling of his statements. I do not believe that any 
man will defend the conduct of his calumniators ; but many 
pursue the same course, with as little justification, in refer- 
ence to persons who describe the phenomena of Animal 
Magnetism. 

It is, of course, possible that the attempt to deceive should 
be made in magnetic experiments, especially when the sub- 
ject hopes either to gain money or to excite public wonder 
by his exhibition. This is possible, just as it is possible for 
a traveller, from similar motives, to give a false account of 
a remote country. But such attempts are easily detected 
by those who have studied the subject, and the objection 
cannot apply to the hundreds of cases daily occurring in 
our own families, where neither these motives nor any other 
motive for deception can be supposed to operate. It is 
right to detect and expose all cheats, in Magnetism as in 
other things; but that is no reason for rejecting alleged 
facts without enquiry. 

Moreover, when we reflect on the large number of ob- 
servers who, since the time of Mesmer, and even before 
that period, have observed and recorded facts in Animal 
Magnetism, and on the still greater number of persons in 
whom the phenomena have been observed or produced, most 
of them persons of altogether blameless character, we shall 
find it impossible to believe that all of the latter class were 
or could be impostors, and all of the former either dupes or 
impostors; more especially when we remember that every 
observer has described his methods and invited repetition 
and testing of his experiments, and that the great majority 
of subjects had no conceivable motive for deceit. I do not 
hesitate to say that these considerations are sufficient to put 



86 OBJECTIONS DRAWN FROM 

an end, in the mind of a candid enquirer, to all idea of im- 
posture as a probable or frequent occurrence, while he may- 
admit its possibility, as in all other branches of human 
knowledge, none of which are exempt from the chance of 
falling into the hands of bad or deceitful men. To believe 
that all who have exhibited in their own persons the facts 
of Animal Magnetism have been impostors, and all the ob- 
servers, at the best, duped by these impostors, makes an 
infinitely more startling demand on our credulity than does 
faith in the most apparently marvellous of the alleged phe- 
nomena ; and it is truly worthy of remark that many good 
and estimable persons, who reject the latter phenomena 
with disdain, and regard those who admit them, or even 
enquire into them, as the victims of a weak credulity and 
of love of the wonderful, should exhibit in their own per- 
sons a credulity so enormous as is required for believing 
that imposture has not only been practised by all magnetic 
subjects, but has also been successfully practised on men 
of the greatest acuteness and scientific caution. 

It may be proper in this place also to remark, although I 
shall have to return to it, that all the phenomena, without 
exception, of Animal Magnetism, have been often observed 
and recorded as occurring spontaneously, without any arti- 
ficial process whatever. Every one knows that catalepsy, 
and cataleptic rigidity of certain muscles, is of very frequent 
occurrence as a natural symptom in certain diseases. The 
same may be said of preternatural acuteness of the senses ; 
of utter insensibility, for the time, to sounds, to light, to 
smell, to taste, and even to pain ; of divided consciousness ; 
of the state of somnambulism or sleep-walking, more properly 
sleep-waking, with its multitudinously attested train of strange 
phenomena, such as walking securely in the dark, and with 
closed eyes ; writing, and writing well, in the same condi- 
tions ; seeing, remembering, and finding objects sought for 
in vain during the waking hours, &c. &c. ; and lastly, of even 
clairvoyance, that stumbling-block to the sceptic. I shall 
have to mention, hereafter, facts establishing the existence 
of spontaneous clairvoyance ; and the spontaneous occur- 
rence of trance or extasis, the highest stage of Animal Mag- 
netism, is quite notorious. 

Now, since all these things occur naturally, is it logical 
to doubt that they may occur when artificial means are em- 



PUBLIC FAILURES. 37 

ployed to produce them? or is it just, when the fact is al- 
leged by trustworthy, or even by unknown observers, to 
accuse them or their subjects of imposture ? Should not the 
natural occurrence of such facts, on the contrary, lead us to 
anticipate their production by artificial means ? 

I conclude, therefore, that the objection of imposture 
must be relinquished, as at most applicable to a small frac- 
tion of cases, and not at all to observations made privately 
and with due care. 

Fifthly : it is objected, that, in the attempts to exhibit 
these phenomena in public, complete failure has often taken 
place. Those who see the failure, at once jump to the con- 
clusion that the whole thing is without foundation ; and they 
frequently brand the party who fails as an impostor and 
cheat. Now, a person who undertakes, w^ith perfect confi- 
dence, as some have done, to exhibit in public the highest 
and most delicate magnetic phenomena, does that which is 
unjustifiable, and he is justly visited with the displeasure of 
those w T hom he has disappointed, more especially if he has 
made the exhibition a means of pecuniary advantage to him- 
self. But it is surely going too far to conclude, that the 
phenomena which he fails to produce are, when exhibited, 
the results of fraud ; for, if an impostor, he would never, 
for his own sake, fail in producing what he promised, how- 
ever ill he might stand the testing which might ensue. On 
the contrary, frequent failures are, to a great extent, a proof 
of his bona fides. 

It is also utterly illogical to reason that because of fail- 
ures, the alleged facts are false. Were any man to fail in 
the simple experiment of dipping his finger, without injury, 
into red-hot melted lead, and to burn himself severely, we 
should not be justified in denying the fact that it may be done 
with impunity. Nay, a thousand failures could only prove, 
that we did not perform, or know how to perform, the experi- 
ment properly ; that we did not know, or did not attend to, 
the conditions necessary to success ; and one succesful trial 
would out-weigh them all. Precisely so is it with Animal 
Magnetism. The causes of failure, from the nature of the 
subject, are very numerous, and many of them but little 
understood ; indeed they are so numerous, that no one, who 
has really studied the phenomena with care, would be so 
4 



38 CAUSES OF FAILURE 






rash as to promise uniform or certain success ; least of all, 
in regard to the higher stages of magnetism. But I must 
reserve the consideration of this matter for another Letter. 



LETTER II. 

I NOW proceed to consider, generally, the causes of failure 
in magnetic experiments, especially when made in public; 
and to show that such failures, if they prove any thing, 
prove the truth and reality of Animal Magnetism. 

In the first place: The state of the subject is variable, 
so that what may be easily done to-day, may be found im- 
possible, or at least very difficult, to-morrow. It is hardly 
necessary to dwell on so obvious a truth as the variable 
state of the nervous system in man. Ask the poet whether 
he find it at all times equally easy to string words and 
rhymes together ; ask the orator, whether he be not subject 
to differences of mood, deeply affecting the character of 
his public appearances ; ask any man, whether he have not 
often observed in himself, or in his family circle, very 
marked variations in temper, humor, or aptitude for work. 
How is it that equanimity is so rare and so admired a 
quality? The influences which affect our nervous system, 
and through it, the mind, are so numerous, and so little 
known, that we know not how to ward off their effects. 
Now the same is true of magnetic subjects. To-day they 
may be lucid and willing ; to-morrow dull, or unwilling to 
try. At one time they may exhibit one phenomenon, and 
at another fall short of that, and present only a different 
one. Every one who has experience of the matter knows 
this ; yet exhibitors, carried away by general success, per- 
haps in private, err in undertaking to perform, on any given 
occasion, exactly what they have been able to do, perhaps 
only once, previously. 

Thus it often happens that an experiment, which has suc- 
ceeded in private, fails in public. The subject was first 
tried by the operator, no one else being present ; and the 
latter is so rash as to promise the same results when the 



IN MAGNETIC EXPERIMENTS. 39 

subject, possibly a most sensitive one, is surrounded by an 
eager crowd, many of them touching him, and all, involun- 
tarily, exerting an influence on him, if there be any truth 
in Animal Magnetism. 

Now, one of the most uniformly observed and recorded 
facts of Animal Magnetism, is that of the disturbance pro- 
duced by cross magnetism, that is, by the interference of 
the influence of more than the operator. This often amounts 
to utter extinction of all the higher powers, and is frequently 
so intense as to cause the most intolerable sensations, and 
even serious- illness, to the subject. I consider it, as a 
general rule, absurd to expect anything but failure when 
the spectators crowd, as they usually do, about the subject; 
and that failure does not always ensue, proves only that 
some subjects are less sensitive to this cause of disturbance 
than others. 

Again, it is by no means a matter of indifference, what 
is the frame of mind of the spectators, especially of those 
nearest to the patient. Their whole attention is fixed on 
him, and, if the influence of one human being on another 
be a fact, they must affect him. Now if, as always happens 
in public meetings, some of the spectators be already 
(whether justly or logically, since they have made no en- 
quiry, is another question) satisfied that the subject is an 
impostor, this feeling will, nay must, if he be very suscepti- 
ble, most injuriously affect him. The presence of one such 
person will often deprive a lucid subject of his lucidity; 
nay, this may occur from the presence of one, who, without 
being so prejudiced, exerts, without knowing it, an influence 
on the subject stronger than that of his magnetiser, which 
is thus neutralized. All this has often been stated by au- 
thors on Animal Magnetism, and every prudent exhibitor 
will bear it in mind, and will never undertake to do more 
than to exhibit those powers which his subject may on that 
occasion be found to possess. 

Deleuze records a striking case, in which a gentleman 
went to visit a clairvoyant, with the firm conviction that his 
clairvoyance was sheer imposture, but took care not to ex- 
press that unfavorable opinion to any of the persons present. 
When, however, he was placed en rapport with the subject, 
the latter at once told him what was passing in his mind, 
adding that, so long as he continued in that frame of thought, 



40 GREAT VARIETY IN THE 

he, the subject, could not exhibit any power, in consequence 
of the unfavorable influence thus exerted. The sceptic was 
much struck with the fact that his secret thoughts had thus 
been read, which convinced him that imposture was not suf- 
ficient to explain the results ; and, returning in a more 
rational and just temper, he not only became convinced of 
the genuine powers possessed by the subject, but was led 
himself to study the phenomena, and afterwards distin- 
guished himself as a mesmerist. 

I have been informed, on perfectly good authority, of the 
case of a lady, highly susceptible to the magnetic influence, 
w T ho could never be magnetised if a certain person were pre- 
sent ; and I know another lady, who is easily and pleasantly 
magnetised by one person, while the magnetic influence of a 
third individual is to her insupportable. 

How great, then, must be the chance of disturbance, in 
very sensitive subjects, when surrounded by an excited crowd 
of spectators, many of them in close proximity, and some 
of these entertaining, perhaps even expressing, the most in- 
sulting doubts of their honesty and sincerity. Such dis- 
turbance is to be looked for, on the showing of all authors 
of experience, if magnetism be a genuine fact ; and the very 
occurrence of some failures in public from such causes, is 
itself a strong proof of one of the facts alleged, namely, 
of the power of sympathizing with the unexpressed thoughts 
and feelings of others, or of thought-reading, as it is called. 

Another class of failures depends on a different cause ; I 
mean, the prevailing fallacy, that all cases of Animal Mag- 
netism, in their different stages, exhibit precisely the same 
phenomena ; that is, that if we have seen, or read of, a case, 
in which the various stages of the state of somnambulism have 
each exhibited the principal phenomena peculiar to such 
stage, the next case or cases must, of necessity, present the 
same facts, and in the same order. This fallacy is nearly 
universal, and the consequence is, that many persons, who 
have seen, or heard of, for example, thought-reading, or 
clairvoyance in any other form, in one case, cannot imagine 
that these phenomena may be absent in another. They cla- 
mor for what they have seen before ; the exhibitor rashly 
tries to produce it; but the subject is an inferior one, or in 
a different stage, and entirely fails to realize the expecta- 
tions so ignorantly formed. This, however, would be 



MAGNETIC PHENOMENA. 41 

nothing, were it not that the failure is seized on by many as 
a proof of imposture. It proves, however, only this, that 
the spectators were mistaken in expecting the same results 
in every case, and the exhibitor entirely wrong in attempt- 
ing to gratify them. Every case must be studied for itself, 
and, although certain general laws apply to all cases, yet 
the variety in the details, both as to their nature and degree, 
is infinite. 

Not only do different subjects differ in the nature of the 
phenomena they exhibit, as, for example, when they can 
only be got into different stages of the somnambulistic state, 
each persisting in his own stage, but, even in the phenomena 
of one stage alone, the same variety is observed. Thus, in 
the lucid or clairvoyant stage or state, some are utterly in- 
sensible to all sounds save the voice of their magnetiser ; 
others hear every sound, often with increased acuteness. 
Some will only answer the magnetiser, or those placed by 
him en rapport with them ; others will answer questions put 
by any one. Some retain their sense of identity, others 
lose it. Some require contact with the person or thing to 
be observed, others do not. Some see their own frame, in 
all its minutest details, as well as the bodily state of other 
persons ; others see nothing of all this. Some possess vi- 
sion at a distance ; others are devoid of it. Some can read 
closed letters, or letters shut up in a box, or mottoes in- 
closed in nuts ; others fail entirely to do this, while they can 
perhaps read our inmost thoughts, a feat which, possibly the 
letter-readers may not be able to accomplish. 

Such is a small sample of the variety in one of the pheno- 
mena alone. I shall have to mention many more proofs of 
it hereafter. But, in these general observations, enough 
has been said to show the absurdity of expecting the same 
results in all cases, and of regarding failures to gratify the 
extravagant and unreasonable expectations which result from 
that fallacy, as proofs of imposture, instead of looking upon 
them as evidences of our own ignorance of the character of 
the facts to be investigated. 

But there is another kind of failure, besides those already 
mentioned. This kind of failure depends on the ignorance 
of the true laws and limits of experimental investigation, on 
the part both of the sceptical spectators, and of the exhi- 
bitor. The latter produces, we shall suppose, a subject, who 

4* 



42 SCEPTICS OFTEN DICTATE 

exhibits some of the usual forms of clairvoyance. The 
former propose to test the powers of the subject, while they 
frequently expect and hope, that he will not be able to stand 
the test. If, for example, the subject has been found to 
possess the power of perceiving with closed eyes what goes 
on behind him, or the contents of a closed or sealed box ; 
the sceptics, to test him, as they call it, insist that his eyes 
shall not only be closed, but bandaged ; not only simply 
bandaged, but doubly or trebly, w T hile perhaps plugs of cot- 
ton-wool are inserted between the bandages and the cheek- 
, bone. Perhaps also, below the bandage, a hard body is laid 
«• over the eyes. Observe, that all these precautions generally 
proceed from a conviction that the subject deceitfully uses 
his eyes, while pretending to keep them shut. Observe, 
further, that the experiment has probably never been tried, 
in this form, by the subject ; and finally, that he is sur- 
rounded by persons, eager, as I have often seen, to convict 
him of deceit. Under these circumstances, which, if there 
be any truth in Animal Magnetism, must be most injurious 
to the powers of a susceptible or sensitive subject, the ex- 
hibitor, whether from rashness or ignorance, but certainly 
from confidence in what he knows to be true, and in good 
faith, accepts the proposed test. But the experiment, per- 
haps, totally fails, as any one acquainted with the matter 
might have known to be highly probable. But what does 
the failure prove? Simply, in the first place, that, under 
these circumstances, the subject cannot see or read as before. 
But, so far as I know, no well-informed writer on Animal 
Magnetism ever maintained that, in any given case, success 
was certain, a priori, under such conditions. On the con- 
trary, is it not obvious to common sense, that the discomfort 
of such an operation, combined with the unfavorable moral 
impression conveyed by it, must operate most disadvan- 
tageously on him ? Moreover, by what right does' the ope- 
rator undertake that his subject shall see or perceive, through 
a hard body, three handkerchiefs, and cotton plugs, before 
Tie has tried the experiment ? And by what right do the 
sceptics dictate conditions, under which nature must exhibit 
a fact, before they will believe it ? Both parties are obvi- 
ously misled by theory. The operator, who flatters himself 
that he knows how the subject perceives objects with closed 
eyes, sees, in the bandages, &c, no obstacle to the subject's 



VERY ABSURD CONDITIONS. 43 

perception ; while the sceptics forget, that, while we may 
modify, as we please, the conditions of an experiment, it is 
easy to do so in such a way as to prevent the result, so long 
as the laws of the phenomena are unknown. Both parties 
are wrong. They should begin by studying the fact, as pre- 
sented by nature, and then, by degrees, alter the conditions 
till they ascertain which are essential, which accidental. 
But no one is entitled to say, because, under certain condi- 
tions, a certain power fails to manifest itself, that therefore 
it cannot occur under other and more natural conditions. 
To suppose, that unless the eyes are bandaged, we cannot 
ascertain whether they are used or not, would argue a po- 
verty of resources which would give but a mean idea of the 
qualifications of him who thus decides for experimental re- 
search. 

Nothing can be easier than to place an object where the 
eye cannot possibly reach it, without interfering with that 
freedom from annoyance, so desirable for the subjects in 
these interesting experiments. 

Such failures, then, prove nothing. It is wonderful in- 
deed, how often, in spite of all such absurdly clumsy 
arrangements as I have described, clairvoyants will succeed. 
But this, again, only proves that some subjects are not in- 
juriously affected by what w T ould deprive others of all 
lucidity. 

It is sometimes said, that, if magnetic experiments are 
exposed to so many causes of failure, it must be impossible 
to make them in a satisfactory manner. Now, as far as 
concerns public experiments, I agree in that opinion to a 
great extent, and the preceding remarks apply solely to 
such public exhibitions. In private, although we are still, 
as in all researches, and more especially in such as concern 
the nervous system, exposed- to not a few causes of failure, 
some of them accidental, and often beyond our control, yet 
we are free from all the chief and most efficient causes of 
such want of success, w T hich I have alluded to. The best 
proof of this is the success which never fails to attend ex- 
periments, made even by persons not trained to scientific 
pursuits, when entered on with a single-hearted desire after 
truth, and under moderately favorable circumstances. My 
own experience leads me to the conclusion, that any one 
who thus devotes himself, with patience and perseverance, 



44 PUBLIC EXPERIMENTS UNSATISFACTORY. 

to the study of Animal Magnetism, will be sure to obtain, 
sooner or later, satisfactory evidence of all the leading 
facts. I protest against the notion, that Animal Magnet- 
ism, or any other branch of natural science, is to be judged 
by the rough experiments of a public platform, or by such 
tests as can be publicly applied. The very nature of the 
phenomena is inconsistent with such an ide.a. 

I may here allude to another kind of alleged failure, in 
which a sceptic undertakes to examine a case, and after 
doing so, declares his conviction, or reiterates the foregone 
conclusion, that the subject is an impostor. He perhaps 
publishes a detail of his experiments, and we find, on ex- 
amining them, the fullest possible proof that he was not 
only ignorant of the matter to be investigated, and of the 
peculiar properties or powers alleged to belong to the sub- 
ject submitted to his examination, but also of the very 
simplest rules of experimental research. Instead of adher- 
ing to the conditions described as essential to certain re- 
sults, he alters them in the most arbitrary and unheard of 
manner. He brings the patient in contact with substances, 
which, but for his disdain of all study of the matter, he 
would know were capable of destroying all, or part, of his 
powers. He substitutes one body for another, and expects, 
without the slightest warrant, the same result as before. 
He renders the state of the subject, finally, one of hopeless 
confusion, aggravated by accusations of imposture liberally 
dealt forth, and not obtaining satisfactory results, he brands 
the unhappy subject as an impostor; while (as Baron von 
Reichenbach has well remarked,) he himself is the only 
impostor, having undertaken, with the most ludicrous self- 
sufficiency, a task for which he was utterly unqualified. I 
might produce instances of this kind of alleged failure, 
from the early as well as the more recent history of Animal 
Magnetism. But this would be invidious, and I gladly 
pass on to other matters, leaving such lucubrations as I have 
sketched to the oblivion which has already overtaken them. 
I shall only add, that, in justice as well as common sense, 
he who undertakes to pronounce a judgment on any matter, 
should at least be acquainted with its features, as presented 
by those who have described and studied it ; and that this 
qualification is above all things indispensable, where the 



LEADERS OF SCIENCE HOSTILE TO MAGNETISM. 45 

judgment affects the moral character of any individual, 
however humble in station. 

Sixthly : it is often objected, that the great and distin- 
guished in science and medicine, do not believe the truth 
of the facts of Animal Magnetism. "They," it is urged, 
" are qualified to decide the question, and when they shall 
have done so favorably, we shall then be ready to admit it." 

Here I would observe, that this is merely another shape 
of the Protean argument, or rather prejudice, against every- 
thing that is new and startling. Can any great truth be 
pointed out, which, when new, or at its first announcement, 
was adopted by the scientific leaders of the time? This 
was certainly not the case with the great truths of Astro- 
nomy , nor with the existence of the new world, as a corol- 
lary from the spherical form of the earth ; nor with the doc- 
trine itself that the earth is a sphere ; nor with the doctrine 
of phlogiston, the best attainable at the time ; nor with the 
anti-phlogistic doctrine ; nor with the discovery of the simple 
nature of chlorine ; nor with the truths of Geology ; nor 
with the discovery of steam navigation; nor with that of 
travelling on railways by locomotive steam-engines ; nor 
with that of gas light ; nor with the philosophy of Bacon ; 
nor with that of Newton. In short, the established leaders 
of science, being generally men advanced in life, are by 
nature averse to novelty. It is a trite remark, that no 
physician who was above forty years of age, when Harvey 
promulgated his doctrine of the circulation of the blood, 
ever adopted it as true. It was left for the rising genera- 
tion of Harvey's time, as for that of Newton's, to adopt dis- 
coveries, to doubt which would now be regarded as a proof 
of insanity or imbecility. Gall's doctrine of Phrenology, 
or of Cerebral Physiology, is just beginning to emerge from 
the period of prejudiced and irrational opposition which all 
new views must, as if by a law of nature, pass through. We 
may see in the tone of the more recent writings on ethical 
subjects, that the younger generation of authors and teach- 
ers have, to a great extent, adopted the main principles of 
Gail's doctrine. The great truths of Geology, thanks to 
those geologists who were young when they were first an- 
nounced, have passed through that period, and are now 
admitted and employed, in religious discussions, by the 



46 OPPOSITION ON THE PART 

very class of men, namely the clergy, who at first most 
fiercely attacked them. 

Such being the case, the hostility to Animal Magnetism 
of the leaders of science, even were it true to the extent 
assumed by the objectors, is no more than history would 
lead us to expect, and certainly can form no argument against 
the reality of the truths of that science, any more than in 
the case of the truths and discoveries above enumerated. 
But, happily for science, the alleged hostility of its leaders 
is not true to that extent. Many estimable names, of per- 
sons highly respected in science, in medicine, and in litera- 
ture, are to be found in the list of those who are convinced 
of the reality of Animal Magnetism. Many of the leading 
journals, but lately hostile, now treat the subject as they 
would any other branch of enquiry. Indeed, we may go 
so far as to say, that a large majority of intelligent persons 
in all classes of society, admit generally that there is truth 
in Animal Magnetism, and only differ as to the precise 
point to which this conviction extends. Many now admit 
the truth and reality of the magnetic sleep, of magnetic 
catalepsy, of divided consciousness, and of some other 
phenomena, while they cannot persuade themselves to ad- 
mit the possibility of the higher phenomena, such as sym- 
pathy or clairvoyance. As the testimony to all these facts 
is the very same, it may confidently be anticipated, that 
the latter will, in process of time, be also recognised as 
true. 

And here I would remark, in a very general way, reserv- 
ing all details for their proper place, that one reason why 
many who admit certain phenomena reject others is, that 
they persuade themselves that they can explain or account 
for the former, and are not able to do so in the case of the 
latter. They form, perhaps unconsciously, a hypothesis, 
sufficient, in their opinion, to explain the former, and be- 
cause it will not explain the latter, they must be rejected. 
But I would refer to what I have said in my first Letter, as 
to the absolute impossibility of truly explaining any fact, in 
the sense of why or how it occurs. These persons take for 
granted, without enquiry or investigation, that the pheno- 
mena are inconsistent with the known truths and laws of 
science. But it is a safe rule, to take nothing for granted ; 



OF THE LEADERS OF SCIENCE. 47 

and this applies to other sciences, as well as to Animal 
Magnetism. 

Further, I would observe, that the leaders of science who 
are opposed to Animal Magnetism, are so opposed to it 
without having studied it, just as were their predecessors, 
when, without enquiry into the subject, they denounced Co- 
pernicus, and imprisoned Galileo. Under these circumstances 
their opinion is not entitled to that weight or value which 
is so justly given to it in those matters with which they are 
acquainted. No man, however distinguished for knowledge 
and ability, has a right to decide on a question of scienti- 
fic fact without investigation into it ; and the most acute 
argument, d prto7% to prove that certain alleged phenomena 
are impossible, crumbles away at the touch of a single well- 
observed fact, even though observed by a tyro in science. 
We cannot, therefore consent that Animal Magnetism should 
be judged by the opinions of any leaders in science, however 
eminent, unless they have fairly studied the subject, and 
thus rendered themselves qualified to appreciate the evi- 
dence. I have known many persons, more or less trained 
to science, who were sceptical, nay, decidedly hostile, in 
regard to Animal Magnetism, until they were persuaded by 
others, or induced by their own sense of justice and love of 
truth, to investigate for themselves, but who soon found that 
truth and nature were too strong for their prejudices. I do 
not know one, who has studied the subject for himself, (of 
course I do not here allude to the mere cavilling at the 
experiments of others with a conviction that they are false 
or feigned, but a bond fide research into the matter, for 
the sake of truth,) and has yet retained those prejudices. 

It may be proper here to allude, more fully than I have 
done above, to the very common opinion, especially among 
men of some scientific knowledge and training, that certain 
phenomena, which they consider as lower, are established, 
but that others, which they call the higher phenomena, are 
utterly without foundation. 

I would first remark, that not many years, nay, not many 
months, or weeks, ago, the very phenomena they now admit 
w^ere, by these very persons, unhesitatingly denied. The 
evidence was the same then as now, that rigidity, the state 
of somnambulism, and insensibility to pain, were produced by 
magnetic passes or by gazing. Yet I have often heard per- 



48 LOWEK PHENOMENA ADMITTED. 

sons, who now regard these phenomena as established, not 
only deny them, but assert with confidence, that they were 
mere humbug and imposture. I have heard the idea that 
one human being could send another into a peculiar state of 
sleep, with divided consciousness, in short, into the state of 
somnambulism, ridiculed as only fit for the brain of a luna- 
tic or idiot ; and yet that state occurs spontaneously, or is 
induced artificially, every day ! Now, indeed, the persons 
who expressed their opinions adopt quite a different tone. 
"Oh!" say they, " these things are well known; nobody 
can doubt them; they are nothing new; we never doubted 
them." If so, it is very strange that they should have 
been so misunderstood, and should even have been supposed 
to write and publish their opinion, that the magnetic sleep, 
for example, as produced by passes, was "a humbug." The 
truth is, that according to what appears to be a natural law, 
and at all events is known to have always occurred, this is a 
never-failing stage in the progress of new truths. They are 
first denied with scorn, and denounced as imposture ; then, 
when it is no longer possible to deny them, it is discovered 
that they are not new. And, in truth, there is some foun- 
dation for the statement. Few facts in nature are new; 
and certainly those of Animal Magnetism, as detached facts, 
are not new. But, although no doubt often observed, as the 
fall of the apple was observed ages before Newton, they 
have been neglected and forgotten. When revived, the 
sceptic, shocked by their apparent incredibility, does not 
take time to reflect, or to discover whether they may not 
have occurred before, either spontaneously or otherwise. 
He denounces them forthwith; and when by chance he is 
compelled, by the evidence of his senses, to admit them, he 
cools down. Now, he does what he ought to have done at 
first. He studies, examines, reads, reflects ; and the result 
is, that the facts are found to be not only not new, but old, 
and, in one or other form, familiar. He finds, that he at 
first, in his ardor, had attributed to these facts, characters 
not their own, and when he has come to see them in their 
true natural shape, he is surprised to recognise old, perhaps 
forgotten or neglected friends. I have seen this process 
going on in so many minds, that I now look for it as the 
normal one, in those who at first recoil from Animal Mag- 



GRADUAL PROGRESS OF SCEPTICS. 49 

netism, and I am rarely, if ever, disappointed in the ex- 
pectation. 

But our sceptic, be it observed, before reaching his pre- 
sent position, had long denied and ridiculed even those so 
called lower phenomena which he now admits. He had 
done so, without enquiry, simply because, in the view he 
took of them,they appeared incredible ; he now finds them 
not only credible, but true; and, as he says, long known. 
He had disdainfully rejected the evidence of many persons 
of good character and abilities, as well qualified as himself, 
perhaps better qualified, to observe such facts, and had 
wantonly accused them of imposture ; he now finds, not 
only that they were innocent of that offence, but that 
they were remarkably accurate in the account they gave 
of the phenomena. But here he stops. He admits the 
facts, for example, of the artificial production of genuine 
somnambulism, or of insensibility to pain ; but he rejects 
(as decidedly as he formerly did these facts) those further 
phenomena, which are often called the higher phenomena 
of Animal Magnetism, such as sympathy, thought-reading, 
community of senses, of taste, smell, &c. ; the control exer- 
cised by the operator over the will and imagination of the 
subject, and all the forms of clairvoyance. 

In short, he repeats, deliberately or recklessly, his former 
error. He rejects facts, alleged not only on respectable 
testimony, but on the very same testimony, which he has 
been compelled to acknowledge as true to nature in regard 
to the lower phenomena ; and he ascribes deceit and impos- 
ture to those who profess to have observed these facts, sim- 
ply because he has again formed the opinion, that they are 
incredible, or that they contradict established natural laws. 

Now, if he will make up his mind to study the facts, he 
will then find, as he found in regard to the others, that they 
also are not new ; that they have often occurred, both spon- 
taneouly and otherwise; that, in point of fact, they do 
occur, whatever may be the true explanation of them ; and 
that the observers are just as trustworthy here, as they 
were found to be in the former case. 

It is so obvious as not to require me to dwell on it, that 

the more wonderful and apparently incredible an alleged 

fact is, the more strictly ought we to scrutinize the quality 

of the evidence adduced. No fact should be taken for 

5 



50 LOWER AND HIGHER 

granted, and none should be lightly admitted, in Animal 
Magnetism, any more than in any other branch of science. 
But this is a very different thing from rejecting, ivithout 
enquiry r , facts, however marvellous they may appear, if sup- 
ported by good evidence. 

But further, are these latter phenomena, in any sense 
affecting the present enquiry, really of a higher order than 
the others? Are they more wonderful or less capable of 
explanation ? I answer, No. 

The production of somnambulism, or the magnetic sleep, 
of insensibility to pain, of cataleptic rigidity, &c, by passes 
at a certain distance, and without contact, appears to me 
as wonderful, and is certainly as little explainable by known 
laws, as that of clairvoyance, or of the highest degree of 
sympathy. These so called lower phenomena prove the exist- 
ence of an influence, which can be exerted by one human 
being on another, and which is not one of the known 
influences, such as heat, electricity, or ordinary magnetism. 
This being admitted, distance, as in the case of these im- 
ponderables, is a matter of little or no moment. The vital 
magnetic influence can as easily be supposed capable of 
passing through enormous distances, as light, electricity, or 
magnetism proper ; and all its effects are equally wonderful, 
and equally explainable. 

Our sceptic admits the fact of the magnetic sleep. Nay, 
he goes so far as to produce it; and his subject, while sleep- 
ing, converses sensibly with him. All of a sudden, and 
perhaps accidentally, the question arises, how long he is to 
sleep ? and he answers at once, ten, fifteen, forty, or any 
number of minutes, and is found correct to a second. Or 
the operator commands him to sleep exactly one hour, or 
an hour and a quarter, and he does so, to a second, again. 
Now all the so-called higher phenomena constantly present 
themselves in this way. The operator puts a lozenge in his 
mouth, while the sleeper cannot see him. All at once the 
sleeper begins chewing and tasting — nothing; but on enquiry 
he declares he is eating a lozenge. Here is community of 
taste ; we had, before, control of the imagination as to the 
duration of the sleep. Again, the subject all at once ex- 
claims, I see Mr. A. or Mrs. B.; describes the room, which 
perhaps he has never seen, and the occupation and dress of 
the person seen, with perfect accuracy. Here is clairvoy- 



PHENOMENA COMPARED. 51 

ance, which daily thus forces itself on our notice. I do 
not here enter into the question of its explanation; but here 
is the fact. And thus I might go on, illustrating all the 
higher phenomena, which, resting on the same testimony as 
that which supports the lower, are, when duly observed, of 
course equally true. 

When, in addition to this, we bear in mind, that every 
known phenomenon, or rather class of phenomena, in Ani- 
mal Magnetism, is on record as having occurred, or is daily 
occurring, as a spontaneous fact, without any magnetic 
process, we may feel assured, that time will convince the 
sceptic of all the well observed and established magnetic or 
mesmeric facts, as it has already convinced him of some of 
them, in truth not less unaccountable than the others. 

Is it logical, or even morally possible, to suppose, that 
those operators and those subjects, whose accounts of the 
lower phenomena we find so accurate and truthful, should 
at once deviate into falsehood in describing other phenomena 
which accompany or follow these ? I say no, again, most 
emphatically. 

He who once admits the magnetic sleep, and, with spon- 
taneous somnambulism staring him in the face, no man can 
long hesitate to do so, will find that he has lost even the 
insecure footing he once had. If the sleep be a fact, then 
its characters are also facts. Now one of these is the oc- 
currence of divided or double consciousness, almost inva- 
riably observed in magnetised subjects, in a certain stage. 
This is a truly astounding phenomenon. That a man should 
hear, feel, think and speak for hours, and retain no con- 
sciousness, in his ordinary state, of his proceedings, might 
well excuse incredulity, if the facts did not render that im- 
possible in those who see them. 

Now, admitting double consciousness, it is impossible for 
an impostor to give a lesson in fraud, in the ordinary state, 
which shall have any effect on his pupil in the sleep. And 
if it be said, that the fraud is taught in the sleep, this im- 
plies the truth of the sleep, and of the divided conscious- 
ness. We have seen what conclusions must follow, when 
these facts are admitted to be true. 

I conclude, therefore, that, as the higher phenomena are 
observed to occur spontaneously, while their artificial pro- 
duction rests upon the very same testimony which has been 



52 THE WORLD'S OPINION. 

found trustworthy in regard to the lower phenomena, it is 
illogical to admit the latter and deny the former ; and that, 
in process of time, just as has occurred in other natural 
sciences, the whole facts will come to be as well established 
in the minds of medical and scientific men, as a part of them 
now is. 

There is another form, in which the natural respect we 
feel for the learned, as well as the natural regard for the 
opinion of the world, operate as a bar to the advancement 
of Animal Magnetism. As long as the great, the learned, 
the rich, and the influential, hold aloof, in hostility or in- 
difference, so long will many, in whose minds the feeling of 
regard for the world's opinion, of the qu'en dira-t-on? pre- 
dominates, either decline to attend to the subject, or, having 
attended to it, suppress their conviction, from the fear of 
encountering abuse, or, what is worse to bear, ridicule. 
This is very frequent, far more frequent than is generally 
supposed. Even in the medical profession, there are many, 
who are not only convinced of the truth of Animal Magnet- 
ism, but actually use it, privately, in cases in which it is 
an appropriate means of cure ; and who yet do not publicly 
acknowledge their conviction, partly from fear of the world, 
partly from fear of the disapprobation of the leaders of their 
profession. While I consider this as much to be regretted, 
since it would seem to indicate a deficiency of moral courage, 
yet it is so natural a feeling, so strong in many minds, and 
so insidious in its operation,. that I would not judge harshly 
those who act in this way. But I would beg to point out 
to such persons, that their policy is short-sighted and bad. 
He who openly proclaims his conviction, not impertinently 
thrusting it forward, but when the necessity arises, is sure 
to acquire the respect of those who know him, for his regard 
to the truth, even should he, for a time, suffer from the 
hostility of those who oppose that truth. Here, as in all 
else, honesty is the best policy. Were all the physicians 
who believe in the truth and efficacy of Animal Magnetism 
to publish, as a body, the avowal of that belief, they would 
find, with surprise perhaps, that they had been frightened 
by shadows ; and that they are numerous and influential 
enough to have nothing to fear. 

It is to medical men that the public will look for the fur- 
ther prosecution of the enquiry. Not only have they the 



MEDICAL MEN ARE LOOKED TO. 53 

best opportunities, but they have, or ought to have, a train- 
ing, qualifying them for the investigation ; and, although it 
is impossible, as yet, to predict all, or nearly all, of the pos- 
sible and probable applications of Animal Magnetism, its ap- 
plications to medicine and surgery are the most obvious, and 
among the most important. I shall return to this part of 
the subject in detail hereafter ; here I shall only say, that, 
a& might be expected from its nature, Animal Magnetism 
operates chiefly on the nervous system, and is therefore ap- 
plicable chiefly, or most naturally, to nervous diseases, such 
as hysteria, catalepsy, convulsions, paralysis, both of the 
nerves of motion and those of sensation, neuralgia, insanity, 
&c. &c. ; while Dr. Esdaile in India, and numerous highly 
respectable practitioners in England and in France, have 
fully demonstrated its great value as a means of producing 
insensibility to pain in surgical operations. 

I am well aware, that in the strict march of science, the 
study of the laws and effects of any power or force should 
be the first object of investigation, and should precede its 
applications to practical purposes ; because it is only by such 
a full and minute study of its effects, and of the laws which 
regulate them, that we can learn its applications, that we 
can discover how to render them easier and more certain, 
and that we can hope to be able in any measure to account 
for them, and thus pave the way for new applications. Some 
men must, I trust many will, devote themselves to the purely 
scientific and inductive experimental investigation of the sub- 
ject ; but its empirical application, especially to medical pur- 
poses, need not, in the mean time, be neglected. 

Indeed, the curative or anodyne effects of Animal Mag- 
netism are so marked, in certain cases, most of which, as is 
well known to the medical profession, are among the oppro- 
bria medicorum, and it is, in proper hands, so safe a remedy, 
that it would be inexcusable not to employ it, especially 
where, as too often happens, other means have failed. These 
empirical trials will not only tend to alleviate suffering, but 
will also supply a large and valuable store of facts, to be 
hereafter drawn upon, in giving to Animal Magnetism a co- 
herent scientific form. 

For all these reasons, it is to the medical profession that 
men look for instruction on this subject; and so strong is 
the public feeling already in this respect, that ere long every 

5* 



54 OBJECTIONS FOUNDED 

medical man will be compelled to learn, either how to apply 
Magnetism himself, or to direct and superintend its applica- 
tion, by qualified magnetisers, since few medical men can 
spare the time required for the magnetic operations they 
may recommend. We shall soon, I am well convinced, see 
the establishment of a class of professional magnetisers, 
qualified by nature and education for the task they under- 
take ; just as we have professional midwives, nurses, cuppers, 
bathers and rubbers, who act under the superintendence of 
the physician. 

In my next Letter, I shall take notice of a different class 
of objections — those, namely, which are, or profess to be, 
founded on considerations of religion and morality. 



LETTER III. 

Seventhly : We now come to a peculiar class of objec- 
tions, which have a remarkable influence on certain minds. 
It is that kind of objection which is founded on considera- 
tions connected with religion and morality. 

The first remark I would make here is, that these objec- 
tions are not, in general, directed so much against the truth 
of the facts as against the consequences which appear to 
the objector to follow from them, if admitted. Some, in- 
deed, go so far as to say that, since such consequences 
necessarily follow, the facts cannot be true; they endeavor 
to make use of a reductio ad falsum. But the majority, so 
far as I have seen, are really actuated by a dread of the 
supposed consequences, and rather recoil from the facts 
with aversion and fear than actually deny them. 

Now, I maintain that it is not logical to reason against 
the truth of a fact because we dislike its consequences. If, 
indeed, we could show, with logical accuracy, that certain 
conclusions necessarily follow from the admission of certain 
facts, and that these conclusions are glaringly false, we 
should be entitled to say that the error lay in the admission 
or assumption of the facts. If, as a necessary conclusion 
from any alleged magnetic fact, we came, by close clecluc- 



ON RELIGION AND MORALITY. 55 

tion, to the result that two and two make five, or that the 
three angles of a triangle are equal to 100° or to 200°, then 
the alleged fact must be rejected. But you will not find 
that any such glaringly false or absurd conclusions are de- 
ducible from the facts of Animal Magnetism. 

If we suppose the admission of any fact in Animal Mag- 
netism to lead, logically, to the conclusion, that vice and 
virtue are indifferent things, or that crimes may be committed 
with impunity ; I say, if such conclusions were logically de- 
ducible, as necessary inferences, from the fact, we should be 
compelled to reject it, on the ground that some fallacy, un- 
known to us, lurked in its assumption. But then we must 
show that these, or any similar false conclusions, are strictly 
necessary inferences from the alleged fact, which cannot, I 
think, be done. 

When, again, the conclusions, supposed to be necessary 
inferences from the fact, are not obviously false, or incon- 
sistent with morality, but only disagreeable to us personally, 
then we are no longer entitled to reason against the fact 
from its consequences, even if w© can prove these to be ne- 
cessary inferences. We must then, if no fallacy can be de- 
tected, accept them, and make the best of them. 

Now, in the reasonings of those who make the objections 
under consideration, all possible fallacies are accumulated. 
The supposed consequences are not necessary inferences from 
the alleged facts ; and they are, moreover, objectionable to 
us, not on universal grounds, but because they clash with our 
peculiar views or hypotheses. 

It is said, then, that if the facts of Animal Magnetism be 
true, then one individual possesses, or may possess, an influ- 
ence over another, or others, which the Deity never could 
have intended to confer on man. 

Here I would observe, First : That if the fact be true, the 
Deity has conferred that power on man. Secondly : that 
since he has done so, the natural inference is, that he has 
given it, like all other powers, for good purposes, some of 
which, such as the alleviation of suffering, are so obvious as 
not to require notice here. Thirdly : that we have no means 
of ascertaining the intentions of the Creator, except in his 
Acts, and his Word. The former are in favor of Animal 
Magnetism, if it truly exist ; the latter certainly does not 
contain any distinct reference to this point. Fourthly : that 



56 MAGNETISM EXALTS 

this power of one human being over another, is only one of 
the manifestations of an universally diffused influence ; and 
that, even were it injurious, which is not proved, in certain 
circumstances, it would, in this respect, agree with all other 
influences. Thus electricity produces destructive thunder- 
bolts, and fire burns and destroys. Both appear, in certain 
cases, injurious ; yet no one doubts the wisdom and benevo- 
lence of their Creator. Let us apply the same rule to Ani- 
mal Magnetism, bearing in mind, that it is only asserted, not 
proved, that the control which it enables one man to exert 
over another is really, even to our limited apprehension, in- 
jurious. 

Secondly : It is further said, that not only is the exist- 
ence of this power a thing never intended by the Deity, but 
it may be used for the worst and most immoral purposes. 

Here I would remark, that no power is known w 7 hich con- 
not be perverted and abused by human depravity. We can 
employ salutary medicines as poisons. Men have been 
known to exert their utmost powers for evil. We use gun- 
powder to blast rocks, we abuse it to destroy human life. 
Nor can Animal Magnetism be exempt from the liability to 
abuse or perversion. But so far is this from being an argu- 
ment against its truth, that the very fear of such perversion 
rests on the admission of that truth. Moreover, in that, as 
in all such pervertible things, the best and only security we 
can have is the utmost possible knowledge of the subject. 
Did one man alone know the powers of chloroform, he might, 
without suspicion, render others unconscious, and rob, or 
otherwise injure them ; but if every man knew its powers 
equally well, this would be impossible, or, at least, not so 
easy as to shoot others with a pistol, which is difficult to do 
without detection, just because every man knows the abuse 
of gunpowder. He who would rob by means of chloroform 
must be close to his victim, the murderer may be at a dis- 
tance and concealed. In short, we cannot argue against 
the truth of anything, nor against its use, from its abuse or 
perversion, and the best safeguard is not ignorance, but the 
greatest possible knowledge. 

I may add, that while I would not deny the possibility of 
the perversion of Animal Magnetism to bad purposes, this 
is not so easy as may be supposed. It is true that the sub- 
ject, in things indifferent, or in things good in themselves, 



THE MORAL FEELINGS. 57 

obeys implicitly, in many cases, the will of the operator. 
But this obedience is not unlimited or unconditional. It is, 
on the contrary, an observed and well-authenticated fact, 
that, in general, the moral perceptions and feelings of the 
somnambulist are exalted and strengthened in the sleep, and 
he generally exhibits a profound aversion for all that is bad, 
false, and mean. In vain might we try, in many cases at 
least, to induce the subject to violate confidence, or to betray 
a secret which he has learned in his sleeping state, while he 
usually forgets it entirely in his usual state. Were we 
capable of trying to persuade the sleeper to do a bad action, 
we should soon discover that he is awake to moral obligations, 
and usually much more so than in his ordinary waking con- 
dition. In most cases, perhaps in all, the very countenance 
becomes more refined, and indicates a higher tone of moral 
feeling. The state of somnambulism is not a true sleep, but 
a state in which ordinary vision is cut off, while the mind is, 
in other respects, not only awake, but, intellectually and 
morally, more active than usual, so as to fill the observer 
with astonishment. The language of the subject is of a 
higher character, more correct and refined, than his ordinary 
speech. And he is only subject to the will of the operator, 
as a general rule, (for so great is the variety in these cases, 
that we must admit the possibility of exceptions,) in matters 
which do not imply a violation of duty and morality. The 
fear, therefore, of the perversion af Animal Magnetism to 
bad ends, which in itself is no argument against its truth or 
utility, is much exaggerated in the minds of those who are 
not familiar with the phenomena, especially with the truly 
beautiful, I might say angelic disposition, so frequently mani- 
fested in the magnetic sleep by the higher class of minds, 
and, in a less degree, by all. 

Thirdly : I have often heard it said, that if the facts of 
clairvoyance, for example, be true, then they prove the 
clairvoyant to be possessed of omniscience, and as that is 
impossible, the fact cannot be true. 

Here, I would say, that when we see the fact of vision 
at a distance, and find it verified in hundreds of cases, we 
cannot doubt the fact. We are compelled, therefore, to 
doubt the validity of the chain of reasoning above alluded 
to. Does vision at a distance necessarily imply omniscience? 
I answer, no ; no more than does the use of Lord Rosse's 



58 CLAIRVOYANTS NOT OMNISCIENT. 

telescope. The clairvoyant does not see in the usual sense 
with his external organs of vision or eyes ; he sees, however, 
with the internal, cerebral vision, but not by means of or- 
dinary light, which is excluded by the shut eyes, and other 
circumstances, such as an intervening wall. We can easily 
suppose the sensations of form, light, and color, to be excited 
in the internal cerebral seat of vision by other means than 
ordinary light ; for we know that these sensations may be 
excited in the dark by pressure on the eye-ball, or by con- 
gestion of the vessels of the eye, or by other more obscure 
causes. Such is the origin of many spectral illusions. 
Now, the clairvoyant sees real, not illusive objects, by some 
unknown means, whatever these may be, which reach his 
internal vision, which is the cerebral or true seat of com- 
mon vision, (the eye, including the retina and optic nerve, 
being merely an apparatus for exciting sensations there by 
means of ordinary light,) without having to pass through 
the eye-ball, or to fall on the retina. We shall see, here- 
after, what we can ascertain as to the nature of this means 
of vision. But, of whatever nature it be, its use cannot 
confer omniscience. If, with our ordinary eye-sight, we 
constantly fall into error in examining objects presented to 
us, this must be to the full as likely, but indeed far more 
likely, with any other means of vision, or other sensuous 
perception. Even the power of seeing all things,' which no 
clairvoyant possesses, clairvoyance being apparently both 
limited and varied in its character, would not confer an un- 
erring judgment. No magnetiser has ever dreamt of omnis- 
cience being a gift of his clairvoyants ; it is those who have 
never seen or studied the phenomena who fancy that such 
must be the result. In point of fact, clairvoyants make 
many blunders, and are exposed to peculiar difficulties. 
They find it, for example, difficult to distinguish between 
the impressions of past events, (memory,) and those of 
actual vision, in their peculiar form of it, both being inter- 
nal impressions, and both equally, or nearly equally, vivid. 
In like manner, they find it difficult to distinguish impres- 
sions caused by suggested ideas, or by thought-reading, 
from those excited by real external objects at a distance. 
It is our business to discover means of distinguishing all 
these ; and it must not be forgotten, that, in the absence of 
the objects, we are apt to misinterpret the statements of 



SORCERY AND WITCHCRAFT. 59 

clairvoyants, according to our own preconceived ideas, so 
that, when we examine them aright, we find our clairvoyants 
more clear and precise than we had supposed. But assured- 
ly, omniscience is the very last thing which would occur to 
an experienced magnetiser, as characterising the state of 
clairvoyance. 

Fourthly: It is further objected, by those who admit the 
facts of Animal Magnetism, that it amounts to sorcery or 
witchcraft, which are distinctly prohibited by Scripture. 
Without referring in detail to the fact, that this objection 
has been in all ages brought against the cultivation of phy- 
sical science, and especially of astronomy and chemistry, 
the votaries of which were inevitably branded as sorcerers 
and witches by those more ignorant than themselves, I may 
point out, that if, by sorcery, or witchcraft, be meant any- 
thing supernatural, then is Animal Magnetism, which has 
to do only with obscure natural phenomena, entirely inno- 
cent of these offences. 

Some, indeed, maintain, that the phenomena of magnet- 
ism are supernatural, and are only produced by the power 
of the evil one. But surely, as long as I can produce these 
phenomena without the slightest reference to that personage, 
as long as I can do so without invoking his aid, or entering 
into a compact with him, I am entitled to regard the phe- 
nomena as entirely natural. You would think I was insult- 
ing you, were I to disclaim seriously any complicity with 
Satan or Beelzebub, and yet the notion above alluded to is 
widely prevalent. 

But the firm belief in witchcraft, as the result of a com- 
pact with evil spirits, now banished from the minds of men, 
was once, and that at no distant period, as widely diffused, 
and more firmly rooted. The royal pedant, James I., when 
he wrote against witchcraft, and put hundreds to a cruel 
death for that offence, was firmly convinced that he did but 
his duty; and that he ought not to " suffer a witch to live." 
Why is that notion, in his sense of it, now obsolete ? Be- 
cause we know, that when the Bible was translated in his 
time, ignorance and superstition prevailed, and the word 
translated " witchcraft," was applied to that which men, 
because they could not explain it, chose to ascribe to an in- 
fernal power. What that word originally meant, I know 
not, but, by common consent, it is not now ascribed to King 



60 MAGNETISM SAID TO LEAD 

James's ideal of witchcraft, the existence of which as a super- 
natural thing, is no longer believed. If any man say, that 
the true word in question is Animal Magnetism, let him be- 
ware, lest he make as great an error as King James I. did. 
The same remark applies to sorcery. We do not know the 
precise meaning of the word so translated. 

Were I to hazard a conjecture, I should say, that witches 
and sorcerers, as denounced in the Bible, were persons who 
made use of natural knowledge for bad and immoral pur- 
poses ; that they were, in fact, cheats and impostors, who 
deceived the people by pretended divinations, and claimed 
the possession of supernatural, perhaps of divine, powers. 
But, in any case, I cannot admit, that those who study the 
Creator's works, and who refer all the wonders they dis- 
cover there to his powder and goodness, and who, moreover, 
apply them to good and beneficient purposes, are justly to 
be stigmatized as practising forbidden arts. 

When I come to consider, in detail, certain phenomena, 
I shall endeavor to show that Animal Magnetism* enables us 
to account for many things, which, in a former age, were 
supposed to be of supernatural or diabolical origin ; such as 
possession, the effects ascribed to the influence of malignant 
persons, or witches ; divination, &c. We shall see, that, as 
in the case of Chemistry, natural facts have led to the im- 
pression among the ignorant, that those who knew them 
were in league with the devil. 

Eighthly : It is often said that Animal Magnetism leads, 
if admitted, to Materialism and Infidelity ; and this is urged, 
by many sincerely pious and estimable persons, as an argu- 
ment both against the truth of it and against the study of it. 

I need not here repeat what has been already said as to 
the illogical nature of this attempt to employ the argwmentum 
adfalsum, except only when it can be clearly shown that 
the alleged consequences are absolutely necessary inferences, 
and, farther, that being necessary inferences, they are cer- 
tainly false or injurious. 

But I may point out, that those who sincerely believe the 
Holy Scriptures to be the Word of God, cannot logically 
believe, or fear, that any other truth, any natural fact for 
example, which, if true, must be also the work of Grod, is, 
or can be, inconsistent with his word. It may appear to be 
so, or rather it may seem to us to clash with our notions, 



TO MATERIALISM AND INFIDELITY. 61 

or our interpretations, of that word; but the case of As- 
tronomy, that of the discovery of the Antipodes, and the 
history of recent Geology, ought to serve as warnings to us 
against the error of stickling, against facts, for our peculiar 
interpretation of any passage or passages of Scripture. To 
say that we fear for God's written truth, if compared with 
his truths as displayed in his works, is, in fact, to say that 
our belief in the former is not a thorough, genuine faith. 
One truth cannot contradict another truth ; and hitherto, 
whenever well ascertained natural facts have been said to 
contradict scripture, it has always been found that the facts 
have prevailed, and that, not indeed scripture, but our in- 
terpretation of it, has been of necessity modified. 

Now I cannot perceive the slightest grounds for the 
opinion that the study of Animal Magnetism has a tendency 
towards infidelity. Its most striking peculiarity appears to 
me to be, the power with which it teaches us how small and 
limited is our actual knowledge of the nature of man, and 
of God's admirable perfections as therein displayed. It is 
impossible to see how this study can clash or interfere with 
the peculiar doctrines of the Christian faith, and, therefore, 
we must suppose the term Infidelity to be used in a vague 
sense, and rather to imply that the study of Magnetism 
tends to raise doubts of the immortality of the soul. This 
is the more probable, as the charge is usually coupled with 
that of leading to Materialism. 

Now, to say that the phenomena of Animal Magnetism 
lead to doubts of the immortality of the soul, is a signal 
proof that the objector has not made himself acquainted 
with these phenomena. For not only have they no such 
tendency, but they have exactly the opposite one. I have 
heard, times innumerable, religious persons declare, on see- 
ing these phenomena, that nothing could more clearly de- 
monstrate the immateriality and consequently the immor- 
tality of the soul. "In clairvoyance," say these persons, 
"we observe the mind acting separate from the body, and 
entirely independent of it. How beautiful a proof of the 
infinite difference between spirit and matter !" This, which 
I mention only as a fact, not as a proof of the opinion held, 
is the most frequent remark made by those who see clairvoy- 
ance. It never occurs to them to suppose that Animal 
Magnetism furnishes an argument against the immortality 
6 



62 MATERIALISM A VAGUE TERM. 

of the soul. That idea occurs only to those who do not 
know the facts, and who form to themselves an erroneous 
impression of them. This bugbear frightens them, and they 
can no longer look calmly at the question. Could they do 
so, they would soon find how far wrong they had gone in 
regard to the facts. How indeed can the fact of perception 
without the ordinary senses, that is, by means of some un- 
known subtle influence, create doubts on that point ? This 
fact at least proves the mind to be less dependent for per- 
ception or sensation on the known forms of matter, than we 
formerly thought it, which is certainly no argument against 
immortality. Many cases have also occurred, and I could 
specify, if I were permitted, one remarkable case, known 
to me, in which the study of Animal Magnetism has led to 
a firm conviction of man's spiritual nature and immortality, 
in persons formerly sceptical on these points. 

But, further, I must here declare my belief that the term 
Materialism, as used in this objection, has so vague and 
undefined a meaning, that I have never found any one who 
used it, able to give a consistent account of it. This is not 
at all surprising ; for if we were to ask the most profound 
philosopher for a definition of matter, we should be disap- 
pointed. What, indeed, is known of matter save its proper- 
ties? Thus, we say, matter is that which occupies space, 
which possesses impenetrability, gravity, cohesion, chemical 
attraction, and the like. But when we proceed to ask, what 
is that to which these properties are attached or belong, 
considered apart or abstracted from these properties ? Is 
there a substratum possessing the essential properties of 
matter? If so, what is the definition of this substratum? 
Or again, is matter a congeries of atoms, to which belong 
certain properties, and which are indefinitely small? or is 
it a congeries of mere mathematical points, from which, as 
centres, certain attractions and repulsions act to certain 
distances ? Is not gravitation an attraction ? is not cohesion, 
is not affinity an attraction ? Is not impenetrability, or the 
power of occupying space, to the exclusion of another por- 
tion of matter, is not indestructibility also, a repulsion ? Is 
not magnetism, is not electricity, made up of attractions 
and repulsions? May not heat and light be equally attrac- 
tions and repulsions ? What then remains ? If the pre- 
sence of all these forces, acting from central points, would 



MATTER NOT DEFINABLE, 63 

produce on our senses all the effect produced by matter, 
may not matter, or rather may not the properties of matter, 
which alone we know, be simply the results of forces thus 
grouped? If we ask these and similar questions, we shall 
not easily obtain an answer. We cannot, in truth, conceive 
of matter without its properties, and these are all that we 
do know about it. Hence the tendency of science at the 
present day is, not to deny the existence of an immortal 
being in man, but rather to conceive matter itself to be 
merely force, or rather a congeries of forces. Surely this 
has no tendency unfavorable to the idea of immortality, but 
the reverse. 

Again, if we cannot define the term material, how is it 
possible to define the term immaterial ? Unless we know 
what matter is, how can we tell what it is not ? or rather, 
what is not matter ? The terms materiality and immateri- 
ality, being indefinable, cannot be used in such a controversy. 
Nay more, if we choose to adopt some definition of matter, 
say, for example, that it " occupies space," and if we try to 
apply this definition in aiding us to define immateriality, we 
shall not find the task an easy one. Let us try to conceive 
the existence of a being which does not occupy space. I 
confess myself unable to do so. 

Moreover, all that we know of matter justifies us in declar- 
ing it to be, in this world at least, and to our apprehension, 
indestructible, and consequently immortal. We cannot 
destroy nor annihilate one atom of matter; we can only 
change its form and place. The burning coals in our fires 
are not destroyed as matter, but only as coals; they continue 
to exist in the form of ash, soot, and gaseous matters. If, 
then, we could imagine the soul to be formed of any kind 
of matter, and therefore to occupy space, (and, as I have 
said, we cannot conceive it as not occupying space,) this con- 
ception would by no means militate against its immortality, 
but the reverse, seeing that it is matter only of which we 
can say with truth, that, so far as we know, it is indestruc- 
tible and immortal. Whereas we do not know anything of 
the properties of spirit ; we cannot form a distinct conception 
of an immaterial substance ; and, lastly, w^e know nothing, 
in this life at least, of the mind or soul, save as connected 
with matter; we cannot conceive, in this life, thought with- 
out a brain. 



64 THE MODERN DOCTRINE OF 

In truth, however, the doctrine of Materialism, as objected 
to, is rather that which has been held by some of those who 
have studied Animal Magnetism, not, however, in conse- 
quence of that study, namely, that we know nothing of 
thought, save that it is the result of the action of the brain, 
and that, consequently, we are not entitled to assume the 
existence of another being called the soul or mind, since that 
assumption is not required to explain the fact of thought. 
It is supposed, somehow, that that doctrine amounts to a 
denial of the immortality of the soul. 

Now, even were I to admit the doctrine to its full extent, 
I cannot see how that should affect the question of immor- 
tality, since, as already explained, we know of matter alone, 
that it is indestructible. Besides, those who hold firmly the 
doctrine of the soul's immortality and of a future life, also 
believe, on the testimony of Scripture, in the resurrection, 
not of the soul alone, but of the body. Now, I would ask, 
is it believed that the body rises for no purpose ? Has it no 
function to perform in the future state ? I cannot, for my 
part, imagine this ; but rather believe that man will then 
continue to think and to feel, by no means of an organiza- 
tion as in this life, save that, as we shall no longer require 
to perform many functions purely terrestrial, we shall have, 
as St. Paul says, a spiritual body, sufficient for, and admi- 
rably adapted to, our new state of being, in which the nobler 
faculties of thought and feeling alone will be exercised. 
And surely it is as easy for the omnipotent Creator to render 
this spiritual, even although material body, immortal, as to 
give immortality to an unknown, and strictly, by us, incon- 
ceivable being. 

But I do not admit that doctrine of Materialism, to the 
extent of excluding a thinking principle or soul distinct 
from the body. It is true that we cannot demonstrate the 
actual existence of such a principle or being, but neither 
can we prove that it does not exist. It may be that such a 
being exists, and uses the brain as its organ for thought and 
sensation ; and our instinctive consciousness tells us that it 
is so. It may be, on the other hand, that there is no such 
being, although that cannot be proved. On either supposi- 
tion, 'the eternity of life, thought, and sensation, that is, the 
immortality of man, is equally secure. It is not, I conceive, 
given to man by his faculties, limited as they are, to decide 



MATERIALISM NOT PROVEABLE. 65 

this question of the existence or non-existence of a soul or 
thinking principle apart from the body, one way or the other. 
It will never be decided in this life. But while I admit that 
the notion of a distinct being, soul, mind, or thinking prin- 
ciple, cannot be rigidly demonstrated, we have a conscious- 
ness which declares its existence, and whose testimony 
cannot, I think, be altogether rejected. We regard the 
brain as its instrument, by divine, therefore by infallible 
appointment. But although such is the view I feel com- 
pelled to adopt, I cannot see that the opposite view has any 
bearing on the question of immortality, which is equally 
conceivable, and equally easy, on either supposition. And 
most certainly Animal Magnetism, if it has any bearing on 
the question, fortifies the position of those who admit the 
existence of a separate thinking principle or soul, whether 
material or immaterial man cannot know, but indestructible 
and immortal in either case. 

Ninthly : I come now to an objection which meets us at 
every turn, when we demonstrate the physical effects of 
Animal Magnetism on the human frame ; when we produce, 
for example, cataleptic rigidity ; paralysis of a limb ; accele- 
ration of the heart's action ; insensibility to pain, or to other 
external impressions ; insensibility of the pupil of the eye 
to light, and immobility of the iris ; stammering ; strong con- 
traction of the muscles against the will of the subject ; and 
many similar phenomena ; — all of which I have often seen, 
and most of which I have myself produced ; while all may 
easily be shown on a susceptible subject. 

It is said by many, when they see and admit these facts, 
that they are produced by the imagination. 

Now it is not easy to discover the real meaning of these 
words as generally used. Do they mean that the facts are 
imaginary, and not true facts ? Strange as it may appear, 
such is often the meaning present to the mind of objectors, 
when they have not only seen, but admitted, the facts. They 
cannot, apparently, distinguish between what is produced 
through the medium of an excited imagination, which is their 
theory of the facts, and what is merely imaginary and not 
true. Whatever is caused by imagination, they consider, 
by a loose and vague use of the term, as imaginary. But 
surely, a rigid limb is a fact; a fixed and insensible pupil, an 
accelerated pulse, &c. are facts, whatever be the exciting 

6* 



66 MAGNETISM ASCRIBED 

cause of them. Nay, cases are on record, in which, without 
magnetism, death has been caused by imagination. Was 
the death in these cases imaginary? Did the subjects only 
fancy they were dead ? If such objectors would only endea- 
vor clearly to distinguish between a fact and its explana- 
tion, they would find that the above-mentioned phenomena 
are facts, which we may, if we please, ascribe to the imagi- 
nation, but which are not on that account the less real. 

And this, indeed, is the meaning attached, by others who 
think more clearly and precisely, to the present objection. 
The ultimate drift of it is this, that these effects are not 
produced by an external influence, but by a subjective ope- 
ration in the mind of the person operated on, which is called 
the action of the imagination. Now there is no objection to 
such a theory, if it be only consistent with all the facts, and 
clearly defined. Let us suppose it to be consistent with all 
the facts, for the sake of the argument, and let us define it 
as follows. The mind of the person operated on, excited by 
certain gestures, &c. ? reacts on his body, and produces all 
the above phenomena, besides the magnetic sleep, and many 
others. Now, admitting this, and calling it, for the sake of 
brevity, imagination, surely it is obvious, that if the imagi- 
nation be capable of producing all these effects, it is a matter 
worthy of the most serious investigation. On this supposi- 
tion, we have been hitherto very ignorant of the power 
of what we call the imagination, and we ought instantly to 
study it, in order to discover the laws of its action, and to 
avail ourselves of so very powerful an agent as it must ne- 
cessarily be. Still on the same supposition, the facts exist, 
and they are in no respect less wonderful, explained in this 
way, than when accounted for by the operation of an exter- 
nal influence. It is easy to see that the name given to the 
exciting cause, or the theory of its action, are, in this stage 
of the matter, secondary points. It is the facts alone which 
are in question, and I am quite ready to adopt that theory 
which ascribes them to the imagination, when it shall be 
shown to be consistent with all the facts. 

But in truth it is not, when carefully examined, capable 
of explaining all, or nearly all the phenomena. The accele- 
ration or retardation of the pulse, the fixation and insensi- 
bility of the pupil, are things entirely beyond our control. 
The magnetised person is quite unable, however strongly his 



TO THE IMAGINATION. 67 

imagination may be excited, to produce these facts in his 
own person, without some process of what is called magneti- 
sation ; while these and all the other phenomena may be 
produced in him by the magnetiser, without the slightest 
action on his imagination. I can vouch for this fact, that 
a magnetiser can strongly affect a person, who is not only 
in another room, or another house, or many hundred yards 
off, but who is utterly unaware that anything is to be done. 
The subject, in such. cases, while engaged in his usual occu- 
pation, feels all the sensations, and exhibits all the effects of 
magnetism : and in susceptible cases, I have good reason to 
know, that this may be done without the operator having 
ever seen the subject Here, I maintain, the imagination 
cannot act. 

Again, while the mind or imagination of the subject 
dwells strongly on one point, he may be made, unknown to 
himself, to exhibit phenomena quite unconnected with it. 
"While eagerly talking, the word may be arrested, half pro- 
nounced on his lips, by the silent vail of the operator, 
standing behind or away from him. And so on, in a hun- 
dred varied forms of experiment. 

From these facts, I conclude that imagination cannot ex- 
plain all the facts; that we must admit an external influ- 
ence ; and that, this being admitted, the imagination is no 
longer required. But although all the facts of Animal 
Magnetism may be produced by the silent will, and in ab- 
sence or at a distance, yet I do not mean to say that the 
imagination, as above defined, cannot also produce many 
(not all) of these facts. On the contrary, I know that, by 
influencing the imagination, we may often greatly hasten 
and extend the influence of the magnetic force. On this, 
indeed, depend in some measure the effects produced by the 
firm and strongly expressed will of the operator. But the 
operation of the silent will proves that this is not essential 
to the production of the phenomena. 

On the whole, it appears that this objection is often 
loosely made and vaguely understood ; that, when more 
precisely understood and defined, it is nothing more than 
an attempt to explain the facts, without admitting an exter- 
nal agency, by means of a hypothesis or assumption, which 
can be shown not to suffice for the explanation of all the 
facts, although it may sometimes explain the production of 



68 NO NATURAL FACT 

some phenomena, or co-operate with the magnetic influence 
in producing them. 

But even on this view, the hypothesis of imagination, 
excluding external agency, has but a weak foundation. 
Granting that certain phenomena are produced directly by 
the excited imagination, how has that imagination been ex- 
cited ? How is it that magnetic operations, such as passes, 
gazing, or contact, excite this so-called imagination so pow- 
erfully and in so many various ways ? How is it that the 
subject, while perfectly conscious, feels, very often indeed, 
nothing but certain physical sensations, as of a warm or 
cold aura from the operator's hand, or a sensation like that 
of weak electrical shocks, or like that of a powerful gal- 
vanic battery? Let us view it as we will, we shall find that 
some external influence does act on the subject; and it is a 
matter comparatively of indifference whether it acts directly 
or through the imagination in producing its effects. We 
are only adding a link to the chain of causes, which we 
shall find always to terminate at one end, in an external 
agency, at the other, in the phenomena produced, no matter 
how many additional links we may add or discover. 

Tenthly: The next objection is, in my opinion, although 
a very common one, the most futile of all. It is that the 
phenomena of Animal Magnetism are of no utility or value, 
and that we may, therefore, neglect the study of them. 
Why, I am often asked, do you give any attention to mat- 
ters so purely of curiosity alone ? What is the use of Ani- 
mal Magnetism ? 

Now this question has been asked concerning all natural 
sciences whatever. It has been asked of astronomy, of 
geology, of chemistry, of minute anatomy and physiology, 
of botany, of optics, &c. &c. And if it now appear absurd 
in these cases, it is only because the lapse of time has de- 
veloped in all of them an infinity of useful applications. 

But even if time had not clone this, it would still be cer- 
tain that it is our duty to study all these and other branches 
of science, for the sake of truth and knowledge. No natural 
fact can be otherwise than valuable, although its value be 
still concealed from our view. It may have, now or hereafter, 
a bearing on some other branch of science ; and it may at 
once, or after centuries, become available for practical pur- 
poses. These possible advantages we certainly throw away, 



CAN BE INSIGNIFICANT. 69 

if we neglect the study of any fact or class of facts. I lately 
heard one of our most distinguished men of science declare, 
when about to mention some topographical facts, that al- 
though they might appear to be, or might be, insignificant 
in the eyes of many, no natural fact could be unimportant. 
This is strictly true ; and I cannot doubt that the distin- 
guished gentleman alluded to, will apply the same remark 
to the facts of Animal Magnetism. 

Moreover, we have examples in abundance, which prove, 
that facts, apparently of trifling or no interest, may suddenly 
acquire very great value, as our knowledge of nature ad- 
vances. Thus the long-known elasticity of steam, in the 
hands of Watt, led to the modern Steam Engine. The facts 
connected with the temperature of ice and water, of water 
and steam, led Dr. Black to his theory of latent heat, which 
assists in explaining, as it probably assisted Watt in avail- 
ing himself of, the properties of steam. The observation of 
the eclipses of Jupiter's satellites is now essential to naviga- 
tion. The simple fact, long a mere curiosity of science, that 
a current of electricity, passing along a wire, induces, when 
interrupted, a secondary current in a parallel wire, or affects 
the magnetic needle, has lately given us the Electric Tele- 
graph. The careful study of the mode of combustion of 
bituminous coal has led to the invention of gas light. That of 
the effects of oxygen on burning bodies has already yielded the 
Bucle light, and will probably, ere long, do greater wonders. 
On the principle above alluded to, of the action of an electric 
current on steel and on soft iron, we are now able to con- 
struct permanent or temporary magnets of amazing power. 
The examination of the products of the action of chlorine on 
alcohol, led to the discovery, among other compounds, of a 
fragrant, volatile liquid, which for more than twenty years 
figured as a useless curiosity. Its composition, indeed, illus- 
trated certain important laws of Chemistry, but no one 
thought of turning it to -a practical purpose. Yet it had 
valuable properties, for, when carefully studied by Dr. Simp- 
son, it became, as Chloroform, in a short time an absolute 
necessary to the Surgeon and Accoucheur. Had Liebig or 
Soubeiran, who discovered Chloroform independently of each 
other, but studied all its properties, the discovery of the fact, 
that surgical operations may be with certainty rendered pain- 



70 THERE IS A TIME 

less, would have been made before 1830 ; whereas mankind 
has had to wait fifteen years longer for this boon. 

It is hardly necessary to point out, that Animal Magnet- 
ism also supplies us with the means of preventing pain in 
surgical operations. And this, had medical men done their 
duty, and attended to the subject, might have been dis- 
covered fifty years ago. It was really practised for many 
years before the discovery of the use of chloroform. At 
the present time, in India, Dr. Esdaile uses Animal Mag- 
netism exclusively for this purpose, and with uniform suc- 
cess. Hitherto, in this country, we have not attained the 
same degree of certainty in producing the magnetic state, 
but here also, it is extensively used in preference to chloro- 
form. 

We see, then, not only that any natural fact, however ap- 
parently insignificant, is important in itself, and may, at 
any time, become practically useful, but that Animal Mag- 
netism already admits of useful applications ; for it may be 
employed, in many cases, to alleviate pain, and to cure dis- 
ease. But even were this not yet the case, it would form 
no argument against the study ; for its uses might be dis- 
covered to-day, to-morrow, or a year, or a hundred years 
hence. We shall see, by and by, that other useful applica- 
tions of it are already known or in prospect. 

This objection, therefore, must be dismissed, as in general 
founded on a limited knowledge of natural facts, and, in the 
present case, as quite inapplicable even at the present time. 

In the Eleventh and last place it is objected, that the 
facts of Animal Magnetism are at once so obvious, so 
wonderful, so important, and so likely to yield useful results, 
that if they really existed, they must have long ago been 
discovered, and applied to practical purposes. 

This is a most astounding objection. If carried out, it 
implies, that everything not yet discovered, or, if discovered, 
not yet used, must of necessity be valueless. But what 
does history tell us ? First, that, in all ages, discoveries 
have been made, astonishing mankind by their simplicity, 
obviousness, and utility, which yet had either not been dis- 
covered, or, as more frequently happened, had been neglect- 
ed and forgotten. Why was it left to Roger Bacon to dis- 
cover gunpowder, or to rediscover it, in Europe, wdiile it 
had been known, for perhaps a thousand years, to the 



FOR EVERY DISCOVERY. 71 

Chinese ? Why was America not discovered, or not effectu- 
ally discovered, before the time of Columbus ? Nay, was 
not Columbus himself taunted with the remark, that if there 
were a western continent, it would never have been left to 
him, a common seaman, to discover it ? Did electricity not 
exist before Franklin, or magnetism before the compass was 
used ? How did it happen that no man, before Newton, 
thought of applying the daily recurring, fact of the fall of an 
apple, &c. to the ground, to the discovery of the law which 
regulates the motions of the heavenly bodies ? Why was 
the force of steam not made available long before our day, 
when it had even been pointed out by the Marquis of Wor- 
cester ? Men saw coals burning every day for more than a 
thousand years, before Winsor thought of collecting and 
using the gaseous products of their destruction by heat. 
In short, why was any discovery made or appreciated at a 
certain time, and not before ? Because, to receive any new 
truth, or any discovery, the minds of men must be pre- 
pared both for its investigation and for its comprehension. 
So, and not otherwise, is it with the science of Animal Mag- 
netism. 

The facts of Animal Magnetism have been observed from 
the earliest times. Nay, they have been used, both for the 
cure of disease, and for less commendable objects. But if 
they were scientifically studied, which it is probable they 
were, it was only by a certain number . of adepts or illumi- 
nati, as, for example, the priests of Egypt and of India, who 
kept their science secret, till it was lost to the world. It 
was necessary to rediscover Animal Magnetism, and this 
was done by Mesmer. Unfortunately, he appears, in some 
respects, to have handled the subject unscientifically, and 
thus to have, if not created, yet greatly strengthened the pre- 
judice with which, as we have seen, new and startling dis- 
coveries have always been received, and if we may trust 
the lessons of history, always will be received. The science 
is yet in its cradle, but, I rejoice to say, it is growing rapidly 
and vigorously. That it has not been, centuries before this 
time, fully developed, can be no argument against it, more 
than against the other discoveries above alluded to. That 
a great part of it has been laid open to us by persons not 
trained to science, by laymen, as we may call them, is be- 
cause men of science have, till very recently, refused to ex- 



72 ANIMAL MAGNETISM 

amine it, and have acted as their ancestors did to Columbus, 
or to the discoverers of the Antipodes. They have opposed' 
to facts, alleged on good testimony, arguments drawn from 
erroneous interpretation of Scripture, or that still more ab- 
surd argument, that so great a discovery could not have 
been reserved for instruments so humble and insignificant. 



I have now considered, as generally as possible, all the ob- 
jections which I have heard brought against Animal Mag- 
netism; and it has, I trust, been shown that they are un- 
tenable, being the very same which have in all ages been 
raised against all new facts, new ideas, and progress in every 
branch of human knowledge, and which are now abandoned 
in regard to all those sciences which have been studied in 
the right spirit for a sufficient time. We cannot doubt that 
the same result will ensue in the case of Animal Magnetism, 
when it shall have been studied for a certain time by per- 
sons qualified for the task. That it has, up to this time, 
been, to a considerable extent, although far from entirely, 
in the hands of less qualified or unqualified persons, is en- 
tirely to be ascribed to its having been rejected and neglected 
by men of science. This neglect, however, can no longer 
be continued, for if such men persist in ignoring the subject, 
they will be left far behind by those who see the necessity 
of attending to it. The younger class of medical and 
scientific men will also come to the investigation of the sub- 
ject Yfithout old prejudices; and ere long, it will be as dis- 
creditable for an educated physician to be ignorant of Ani- 
mal Magnetism, as it would now be for him to be ignorant 
of physiology or chemistry.* 

Having now cleared the ground, we are prepared to enter 
on the details of the subject ; and I propose to do this, by 
describing first, the usual processes of magnetism ; then the 
phenomena, individually as they appear, beginning with 
what are called the low^er, and going on to the higher phe- 
nomena. In doing this, I shall refer, as often as possible, 

* It may possibly appear to the reader, that I have omitted the 
consideration of certain objections which may occur to him. If so, 
it has only been because I have reserved notice of the more special 
objections to individual facts, for a more appropriate place, confining 
myself here, to the general objections so far as known to me. 



MUST BE STUDIED. 73 

to what I have myself seen and been able to do in Animal 
Magnetism, while I shall also adduce striking cases from the 
experience of other observers. Lastly, I shall endeavor to 
explain what is known of the cause of the phenomena, and 
of the laws which regulate them. Here, of course, I must 
trench on hypothetical ground, but this may be safely done, 
if we bear in mind that facts are the most essential matters 
here, which -vyill continue to exist, whatever be our mode of 
accounting for them, or whether we can account for them 
or not. 



LETTER IV. 

We now come to the practical consideration of our sub- 
ject ; that is, of the effects produced on many persons by 
various causes, whether external and objective, or internal 
and subjective, but which must be classed in the same cate- 
gory, and ascribed to the same ultimate or primary cause. 

The name given to these phenomena is a matter of small 
importance ; the essential point being, that we should know 
the facts. Mesmer, who re-discovered them towards the 
end of the last century, gave them the name of Animal 
Magnetism; and although this be not unobjectionable, I 
shall adopt it here, as generally known, and as indicating the 
affinity with ordinary magnetism, that subtle and unaccount- 
able influence which attracts iron, and causes the magnetic 
needle to point north and south. This kind of Magnetism, 
when I have occasion to refer to it, I shall call Ferro-mag- 
netism, a convenient term, lately introduced by Dr. Fara- 
day. The kind of magnetism, (if it be such, but at all 
events it has many analogies with Ferro-magnetism,) which 
we are now to examine, may be called Vital or Animal Mag- 
netism. 

I prefer this to the term Mesmerism, which, in the minds 
of many, has acquired a limited meaning. It is always un- 
derstood as implying the action of one person on another ; 
it is often applied chiefly to the remedial process, and, by 
others again, to the production of the magnetic sleep, 
7 



74 NAMES GIVEN TO 

whereas I use the term Animal Magnetism, as a familiar 
and established name for all the phenomena, spontaneous or 
artificially produced, objective or subjective, which belong- 
obviously to one class. 

Various other names have been proposed ; such as hypnot- 
ism, by Mr. Braid, who confines it, however, to his own 
method or process ; electro-biology, by various American 
experimenters, for the phenomena which may be produced 
in the conscious state, but which are also produced in the 
sleep, and even in the conscious state, by the ordinary 
methods, as well as by those of Dr. Darling and others. 
Then we have electro-psychology,. and other similar names, 
in which, as in electro-biology, the affinity to electric phe- 
nomena, or the theory, that electricity is identical with the 
vital force, is chiefly kept in view. Now, although there is 
an obvious analogy with electricity, as well as with magnet- 
ism, these latter names, without being more precise, or 
better founded, have the disadvantage of being new, while 
Animal Magnetism is established. It is always best to use 
an established name, where it can be done without leading 
to false notions ; and Animal Magnetism is so far appropri- 
ate, that it is known ; and if explained to be merely a col- 
lective name for a class of phenomena, many, perhaps all 
of which, may be produced by magnets, as well as by other 
means, and not to imply that the influence producing them 
is identical with that which produces the facts of ferro-mag- 
netism, will not, I think, lead to serious error. We shall 
see, hereafter, that the researches of Baron von Reichen- 
bach have led him to suggest a new name for the influence, 
which I consider to be unobjectionable, but which, in this 
stage of the inquiry, I shall not use, for fear of causing 
confusion. I shall reserve it for the section in which the 
nature of the cause or influence is to be discussed. 

Some persons suppose, that there is a real distinction 
between the phenomena of mesmerism, of hypnotism, and 
of electro-biology, in reference to their causes. But this is 
not the case. We shall see, that it is merely the methods 
which differ, and, to a certain extent, the train of pheno- 
mena developed by these methods. But this latter differ- 
ence is merely one of degree, or stage. All the phenomena 
of the conscious state in electro-biology, and of x the 
unconscious state in hypnotism, can be produced, in both 






ANIMAL MAGNETISM. 75 

states, by the older mesmeric or magnetic methods. I 
have often seen every one of them produced in each of 
the^e ways, without any greater difference between the hyp- 
notic or biological phenomena and those of common Animal 
Magnetism, than necessarily exists between different stages 
of the latter ; so that while Animal Magnetism includes all 
the phenomena, the other names are confined to certain 
stages or subdivisions of them, produced by peculiar pro- 
cesses. I have thought it necessary to premise this expla- 
nation, because many suppose that all these phenomena are 
essentially distinct, an error arising entirely from the use 
of new names. 

I may add, that another good reason for preferring the 
term Animal Magnetism is, that it is the term used in 
France, and in other parts of the Continent. 

The first fact which we shall notice, is that of the sensa- 
tions produced when one individual acts on another, describ- 
ing the process usually employed. 

If you will try the experiment of drawing the points of 
the fingers of your right hand, without contact, but very 
near, over the hands of several persons, downwards from 
the wrist, the hands being held with the palms upwards, 
and your fingers either all abreast, or one following the 
other, and repeat this, slowly, several times, you will most 
probably find one or more who distinctly perceive a peculiar 
sensation, which is not always the same in different persons. 
Some will feel a slight warmth, others a slight coolness, 
others a pricking ; some, a tingling ; others a numbness. 
Such as perceive these sensations most distinctly may then 
be tested, and will be found, probably, very clear and con- 
sistent with themselves, even if blindfolded. But sometimes, 
blindfolding produces at once a state of nervous disturbance, 
most unfavorable to clear perception. All this I have often 
tried and seen, and Reichenbach, as well as many others, 
has minutely described it. 

You may now, having found a person susceptible to a cer- 
tain extent, proceed to try the effect of passes, made slowly 
with both your hands, downwards from the crown of the 
patient's head, over the face, to the pit of the stomach, or 
even down to the feet, always avoiding contact, but keeping 
as near as possible without contact. Or you may make the 
passes laterally, and so downwards over the arms. It is 



76 MODES OF OPERATING. 

necessary to act with a cool, collected mind, and a firm will, 
while the patient is perfectly passive and undisturbed by 
noise or otherwise. He ought to look steadily at the eyes 
of the operator, who, in his turn, ought to gaze firmly on 
his subject. The passes should be continued, patiently, for 
some time, and will generally excite the sensations above 
mentioned, warmth, coolness, pricking, tingling, creeping 
of the skin, or numbness, according to the individual ope- 
rated on. When these sensations are very marked, the 
subject will, in all probability, turn out a good one. It is 
probable that, with patience and perseverance, a vigorous, 
healthy operator, would finally succeed in affecting all per- 
sons ; but in some cases, which have afterwards become 
very susceptible, the subjects have been only affected with 
great difficulty, and only after much perseverance, or even 
have not been at all affected on the first trial, nay, even for 
many successive trials. The operator must not be dis- 
couraged. If he perseveres, the chances of success are 
much increased, while he will often meet with cases, in which 
a few minutes suffice to produce strong effects. 

Another, and in some cases a more successful method, is 
to sit down, close before the patient, to take hold of his 
thumbs in your thumbs and fingers, and, gently pressing 
them, to gaze fixedly in his eyes, concentrating your mind 
upon him, while he does the same. This is, at least in ther 
beginnging, less fatiguing than making the unaccustomed 
motions of passes, although, with a little practice, it is easy 
to make several hundreds of passes uninterruptedly. I 
cannot give decided preference to either method. Both 
will occasionally fail, and both are often successful. They 
may be combined, that is, alternated, and often with advan- 
tage. 

Two things are desirable. First, a passive and willing 
state of mind in the patient, although faith in magnetism is 
not at all indispensable; but a bond fide passivity, or willing- 
ness to be acted on. This, however, signifies little in sus- 
ceptible cases. Secondly, intense concentration on the part 
of the operator. It is self-evident that, to attain this, per- 
fect silence is essential. Even the noises in the street will 
often distract both parties from the necessary attention, and 
still more, whispering among the company, moving about, 
the rustling of a lady's dress, &c. &c. The time required 



EFFECTS PRODUCED. THE SLEEP. 77 

varies from a minute or two to an hour or more, but usually 
diminishes on repetition. 

Intent gazing alone, especially if practised by both par- 
ties, will often produce the sensations above described, 
without close proximity. I have often seen Mr. Lewis, who 
likes this mode of operating, namely, gazing at a certain 
distance, with intensity and a firm volition, produce these 
sensations, and even stronger effects, in the space of five 
minutes, on a considerable proportion of the company, 
varying perhaps from 5 to 20 or 25 per cent., according to 
circumstances. But his power of concentration is truly 
astonishing, and is strongly indicated in his whole gesture, 
and in the expression of his countenance, while operating. 

Lastly, these sensations may be produced by gazing, on 
the part of the patient alone, either at a small object in his 
hand, as practised by Dr. Darling with great success, or at 
an object placed above and before the eyes, as is done with 
equal success by Mr. Braid in producing hypnotism. In- 
deed, one difficulty in these cases is, to prevent the subject 
from going further, and becoming unconscious. 

Such is a general account of the phenomena which first 
present themselves, which are not very striking, and of the 
processes usually followed. Indeed many are ready to say, 
that these phenomena are due only to the silence and con- 
straint of the experiment, and, therefore, prove nothing. 
But such a remark only applies to the faintest sensations. 
When strongly marked, they are quite unmistakable, and 
cannot, by any possibility, be ascribed to anything but a 
real influence ; which, according to the form of experiment, 
may be either external or internal. 

Now, the same processes, w^hen continued longer, give 
rise to phenomena still more striking ; and I shall now pro- 
ceed to these, while it will be unnecessary to repeat the 
detail of the processes, which, as already described, suffice 
to produce the whole train of magnetic phenomena. 

The first is, a twitching of the eyelids, which begin to 
droop, while, even when the eyelids remain open, there is 
in many cases, a veil, as it were, drawn before the eyes, 
concealing the operator's face and other objects. Now also 
comes on a drowsiness, and, after a time, consciousness is 
suddenly lost, and on awaking the patient has no idea 

whatever how long it is since he fell asleep, nor what has 

7* 



78 ARTIFICIAL AND NATURAL 

occurred during his sleep. The whole is a blank, but he 
generally wakes, with a deep sigh, rather suddenly, and 
says he has had a very pleasant sleep, without the least 
idea whether for five minutes or for five hours. He has been, 
more or less deeply, in the magnetic or mesmeric sleep, 
which I shall now describe more particularly. I do so 
because, in many cases of ordinary magnetism, by passes or 
by gazing, it is the first marked result obtained, and in 
most of them it occurs immediately after the sensations 
formerly described. 

I am aware that many very beautiful phenomena occur in 
the conscious state, but, to produce them in that state, we 
must operate in a peculiar way ; whereas, by operating as 
above described, we generally produce the sleep, in which 
all the same phenomena may be observed, and indeed we 
may produce them all in the conscious state, in this way 
also, by stopping short of the sleep. I shall consider their 
production in the conscious state, after I have described the 
sleep and its phenomena. 

I have just said, that the sleeper wakes, without a recol- 
lection of what may have passed in his sleep. But we are 
not to suppose, because it now appears a blank to him, that 
it has really been a mere torpid, insensible, unconscious, 
slumber. It is only an unconscious state, in reference to 
the ordinary waking condition ; for the sleeper may have 
been actively engaged in thinking, observing, and speaking, 
during the whole period of sleep. This it is which renders 
the sleep so interesting a phenomenon. Let us now con- 
sider its characteristics a little more fully. 

1. It is a state of somnambulism, sleep-walking, or more 
correctly sleep-waking. It is a sound, calm, undisturbed 
sleep ; that is, it is not broken by gleams of ordinary con- 
sciousness. But the sleeper answers when spoken to by the 
operator, and answers rationally and sensibly. He fre- 
quently doubts, and therefore frequently uses the words " I 
don't know," and appears most anxious not to aflSrm or 
deny any thing of which he is not quite sure. If desired, 
he will rise and walk, and, according to the particular stage 
in which he may be, he walks with more or less confidence 
and security, his eyes being always closed, or, if found open, 
either turned up, or. insensible to light. In short, he is a 
somnambulist, and possesses some means, not possessed in 



SOMNAMBULISM COMPARED. 79 

the ordinary state, of becoming aware of the presence of 
objects. Whether this depend on a preternatural acuteness 
of the senses of touch, hearing, and smell, or on a more 
occult perceptive power, or on both, is a question which 
shall be discussed hereafter. I shall here only remark, 
that the variety in the phenomena, in different cases, and 
in different phases of the same case, is so great, that I am 
inclined to believe that both causes may be in operation; 
but that, sometimes, we have positive evidence that the 
external senses are entirely closed; while the numerous ac- 
counts given of spontaneous somnambulism would lead us 
to conclude that such is generally the case in that state. 
No one has ever seen a case of natural sleep-walking, and 
who subsequently examines one of artificially excited som- 
nambulism, ever hesitates a moment in recognising the 
essential and complete identity of the two phenomena. I 
have not, myself, as yet had the good fortune to see a natu- 
ral sleep-walker ; but I have heard such cases often described 
by those who had seen and studied them, and who inva- 
riably, when allowed to see a case of magnetic somnam- 
bulism, acknowledged that the phenomena were the same. 

Here I would stop, to remark, that natural or spontaneous 
somnambulism is a very frequent occurrence, so very fre- 
quent, indeed, that most persons have seen it. This proves 
that it depends on a natural cause very widely, if not uni- 
versally, diffused among mankind, which would seem only 
to produce these marked effects when the system is in a 
peculiar condition, possibly an essentially morbid or excitable 
state of the nervous system. It is generally observed to 
occur during the hours of sleep, but this is not a universal 
rule, for persons subject to it have been known to fall into 
somnambulism during the day. Sleep, however, is favor- 
able to its occurrence. Supposing that artificial somnam- 
bulism had been first observed, before the natural was 
known, then, since the artificial phenomenon must depend 
on some power residing in the system, and judging from 
analogy, we should certainly have been justified in expect- 
ing that it would some clay occur as a spontaneous natural 
fact. In like manner, the natural fact having been ob- 
served from the earliest times, analogy would lead us to 
expect, that this might be imitated by artificial means, just 



80 INCREASED ACUTENESS OF SENSES. 

as ordinary sleep may be produced by narcotics, and sneez- 
ing or vomiting by appropriate drugs. 

In short, one is quite at a loss to explain how persons, of 
excellent abilities, who have seen, or who readily admit, the 
occurrence of spontaneous somnambulism, should have any 
difficulty in admitting the possibility, nay, the high proba- 
bility, d priori, of its artificial production. My theory of 
this strange disinclination is, that these persons have alarmed 
themselves by attributing to the magnetic sleep, characters 
and consequences injurious to morality or religion, or incon- 
sistent with their own preconceived notions of nature and of 
science, and that by the strong feelings thus excited, their 
intellect is so far blinded, that they cannot, for the time, 
either appreciate duly the evidence of the fact, or enquire 
calmly whether, if admitted, it really has those characters, 
and necessarily entails those consequences which they attri- 
bute to it. 

2. The sleeper sometimes, but not always, nor in all stages 
of the sleep, hears with increased acuteness, and that to an 
extent apparently marvellous. It is possible that this may 
depend, as in the blind, at all events in part, on the fact, 
that the eye being no longer active, nor indeed sensible to 
light, while the senses of touch, taste, and smell, are proba- 
bly quiescent till objects are presented to them, the whole 
attention of the sleeper is concentrated on the sense of hear- 
ing. I have no knowledge, at present, of whether this sense 
is thus affected in natural sleep-walking, but I should expect 
that it will sometimes be found more acute, and at other 
times closed, as certainly occurs in the magnetic sleep. 
Many cases of sleep-walking are recorded, in which no sound, 
however loud, was heard by the somnambulist, and some, in 
which very loud noises suddenly and dangerously awoke him, 
whereas less loud sounds had not been noticed. The state of 
utter deafness to all sounds, however loud, such as shouting 
or firing a pistol, or ringing a large bell, close to the ear, is 
very common in the magnetic sleep, and may, I believe, be 
produced in every case at some stage of it, or, by the will of 
the operator, at almost any stage. 

3. When the sleeper has become fully asleep, so as to 
answer questions readily without waking, there is almost 
always observed a remarkable change in the countenance, 
the manner, and the voice. On falling asleep at first, he 



EXPRESSIONS OF THE FACE. THE VOICE. 81 

looks, perhaps, drowsy and heavy, like a person dozing in 
church, or at table, when overcome by fatigue, or stupefied 
by excess in wine, or by the foul air of a crowded apartment. 
But when spoken to, he usually brightens up, and, although 
the eyes be closed, yet the expression becomes highly intel- 
ligent, quite as much so as if he saw. His whole manner 
seems to undergo a refinement, which, in the higher stages, 
reaches a most striking point, insomuch that we see, as it 
were, before us, a person of a much more elevated character 
than the same sleeper seems to be when awake. It would 
seem as if the lower or animal propensities were laid to rest, 
while the intellect and higher sentiments shone forth with a 
lustre that is undiminished by ought that is mean or common. 
This is particularly seen in women of natural refinement and 
high sentiments, but it is also observed in men of the same 
stamp, and more or less in all. In the highest stages of 
the magnetic sleep, the countenance often acquires the 
most lovely expression, surpassing all that the greatest 
artists have given to the Virgin Mary, or to Angels, and 
which may fitly be called heavenly, for it involuntarily sug- 
gests to our minds the moral and intellectual beauty which 
alone seems consistent with our views of heaven. As to the 
voice, I have never seen one person in the true magnetic 
sleep, who did not speak in a tone quite distinct from the 
ordinary voice of the sleeper. It is invariably, so far as I 
have observed, softer and more gentle, well corresponding 
to the elevated and mild expression of the face. It has often 
a plaintive and touching character, especially when the 
sleeper speaks of departed friends or relations. In the highest 
stages, it has a character quite new, and in perfect accord- 
ance with the pure and lovely smile of the countenance, which 
beams on the observer, in spite of the closed eyes, like a ray 
of heaven's own light and beauty. I speak here of that 
which I have often seen, and I would say, that, as a general 
rule, the sleeper, when in his ordinary state, and when in 
the deep magnetic sleep, appears not like the same, but like 
two different individuals. 

4. And it is not wonderful that it should be so. For the 
sleeper, in the magnetic state, has a consciousness quite se- 
parate and distinct from his ordinary consciousness. He is, 
in fact, if not a different individual, yet the same individual 



82 DIVIDED CONSCIOUSNESS. 

in a different and distinct phase of his being ; and that phase, 
a higher one. 

As a general rule, but not a rule without some exceptions, 
the sleeper does not remember, after waking, what he may 
have seen, felt, tasted, smelled, heard, spoken, or done, 
during his sleep ; but when next put to sleep, he recollects 
perfectly all that has occurred, not only in the last sleep, 
but in all former sleeps, and, as in the ordinary state, with 
greater or less accuracy, although usually very accurately 
indeed. He lives, in fact, a distinct life in the sleep, and 
has, what is called, a double or divided consciousness : of 
course, sleepers differ in their powers of memory in the mag- 
netic state, as they do in their ordinary state, if not to the 
same extent. 

But, when in the magnetic state, the sleeper is not always 
entirely cut off from his usual state, even in those cases in 
which he has no trace, on waking, left in his mind, of the 
actions or sensations of the sleep. On the contrary, he 
often speaks in the magnetic sleep, with accuracy, of things 
known to him in his usual state. It is remarkable, that he 
finds, in general, a great difficulty, or even an impossibility, 
in naming persons or things in this way. He will define 
and describe them, but very often either cannot, or will not 
name them. If you name them, he will assent, but would 
rather not do it himself. 

He often loses, in the magnetic sleep, his sense of identity, 
so that he cannot tell his own name, or gives himself another, 
frequently that of the operator ; while yet he will speak 
sensibly and accurately on all other points. He very often 
gives to his operator, and to other persons, wrong names, 
but always, so far as I have seen, the same name to the 
same person. 

The phenomenon of double or divided consciousness has 
frequently been described as a spontaneous one, and per- 
sons have lived, for years, in an alternation of two conscious- 
nesses, in the one of which they forget all they had ever 
learned in the other, and have had, therefore, to be educated, 
like a child, in the former. 

The same thing occasionally happens in Animal Magnet- 
ism. The sleeper has often to learn, as a child, things with 
which, in his usual state, he is quite familiar, such as read- 



FIRST DAWN OF CLAIRVOYANCE. 83 

ing or writing ; but this is by no means always observed ; 
possibly, it is seldom looked for. 

The phenomenon of which we have' spoken, divided or 
double consciousness, more or less perfect, is one of the 
most surprising and beautiful in the whole series of mag- 
netic phenomena. As it is very easily observed, that is, 
if we have confidence, in the sleeper, (and, without confi- 
dence in his veracity, nothing can be ascertained even in 
regard to his ordinary consciousness,) it ought to be among 
the, first to be verified by the sceptical but truth-loving in- 
quirer,, who desires to ascertain the reality of the magnetic 
sleep, as well as its peculiar characters. 

5. The sleeper, with closed eyes, yet often speaks as if 
he saw certain objects, when his attention is directed to 
them. He even makes an apparent effort to see, or to look 
at them, while his eyes are only more firmly closed. But 
he very often feels them in his hand, and whether by the 
acuteness of his touch or by some other means, describes 
them as if he saw them. Or he places them on his forehead, 
on the summit of his head, or on the occiput, or on the epi- 
gastrium, and then describes them, which perhaps he could 
not do when they were held by the operator before his closed 
eyes. He talks of seeing them, and evidently makes an ex- 
ertion to apply his internal or cerebral vision to their exam- 
ination. In this -he often succeeds, but often also finds 
great difficulty, especially in the earlier stages of the sleep. 
In fact, we have here the dawning of clairvoyance, which 
only reaches its noon-day brightness in the highest stage of 
the sleep. In the stage to which, at present, our remarks 
are confined, the object must be, in some way, in contact 
with, or at least very close to the sleeper ; he is incapable, 
otherwise, of describing it. The subject of clairvoyance, in 
its multitudinous forms, is one of so great interest, and of 
so great extent, that it must be considered separately ; in 
fact, as belonging to a different, or higher stage of the 
sleep. • I find it quite impossible to draw any definite line 
between the various degrees or stages of the sleep, save only 
between those in which clairvoyance, or else a very high 
degree of sympathy, is present, which we may call the higher 
or later stages of the sleep, and those which we may call 
the lower or earlier stages, in which these powers are absent. 
The state or stage of perfect trance or extasis, may be re- 



84 THE MAGNETISES, ALONE HEARD. 

garded as the third and highest ; but of this I am not yet 
qualified to speak from personal observation. In many 
cases, the sleeper passes at once into the higher, the lucid, 
or clairvoyant stage, without arresting himself in the lower 
or non-lucid state, which yet he may formerly, at an earlier 
period of the investigations, have exhibited distinctly. 
Most of the facts observed in that earlier stage, continue to 
appear in the later, but naturally attract less attention when 
we are occupied with the astounding facts of sympathy or 
of clairvoyance. As I have already stated, these will be 
afterwards separately considered. In the mean time, hav- 
ing noticed the first glimmerings of an unusual mode of 
vision, we shall go on to describe other phenomena, which 
appear without clairvoyance, while they often continue also 
in the lucid state. 

6. The sleeper is very often deaf to every sound, save 
the voice of the operator. That is not, however, always the 
case. I have seen subjects, who readily heard and answer- 
ed every question addressed to them by any of the persons 
present, without being in contact with them, or being pur- 
posely placed en rapport with them. In some of these 
cases, the subjects, either spontaneously, or at the will of 
the operator, or by passes, &c. made by him, pass into 
a higher state, and then instantly become deaf to all sounds 
except his voice. Nay, I have seen and examined one very 
remarkable case, in which the sleeper, when she had passed 
spontaneously into a higher state of lucidity, became deaf 
even to the operator's voice, unless he spoke to her through 
the tips of her fingers, holding his mouth, while speaking, 
so as to touch them. When this was done, she started, and 
after a moment, answered questions thus put, as readily as 
before. You might bellow in her ear, or fire off a pistol, 
without her countenance indicating the slightest change, or 
without her ceasing for an instant to dwell on and describe 
what she was engaged in looking at, which she readily did 
without questions being asked at all. Any one else could 
converse with this subject in the same way, and I did so for 
an hour or two. In some similar cases, any person, besides 
the operator, must be placed en rapport with the subject, 
physically or mentally, by the operator, before they are 
heard or answered. In others, again, we must address our 



INSENSIBILITY TO PAIN. 85 

words to the epigastrium, or to the head. There is here, 
as in all these phenomena, an endless variety in the details. 

In many cases where the sleeper hears and answers any 
one, he may be instantly and completely deprived of this 
power, by the will, whether silent or expressed, of the ope- 
rator. Hence, when we are endeavoring to produce the 
sleep in a new subject, who happens to be much disturbed 
by the noise in the room or in the street, we may often, by 
commanding him not to hear those noises, greatly accelerate 
the arrival of the true sleep. This can only be done when 
the operator, as often happens, acquires, in the earliest 
stages, the power of controlling the sensations of the sub- 
ject. This control, as we shall see, may be acquired over 
subjects in the conscious state. 

7. The sleeper often becomes entirely insensible to pain ; 
that is, he is rendered insensible to impressions of touch 
and other forms of feeling, as he was before to sounds. In 
many cases, where this does not spontaneously happen, but 
not in all, it may be effected by the will, expressed or silent, 
of the operator. Many persons who produce the sleep are 
not aware of this, and hence imagine that their subjects 
cannot be rendered insensible to pain. 

It must, I think, be admitted, that of all the methods 
now known and used to produce insensibility to pain, this is 
the safest, and, ceteris paribus, the best. The magnetic 
insensibility is never, so far as I have seen, followed by any 
unpleasant symptoms. On the contrary, every sleeper 
whom I have seen, feels better after the sleep than before. 
If, in a few cases, the production of the magnetic sleep has 
either been followed by any discomfort, or if it has been 
found difficult to awake a person from the sleep, this has 
arisen solely from the inexperience of the operator, who 
has rashly produced a state which he knows not how to 
control. It happens only when inexperienced persons, out 
of curiosity, or for amusement, cause the magnetic sleep. 
They are at first astonished and a little alarmed at their 
success. But when, on trying to rouse the sleeper, they 
find him deaf, and obstinate in sleeping, they become agi- 
tated and nervous. Their state of mind is communicated, 
by sympathy, to the patient, who appears to suffer, and 
may even be seized with spasms or convulsions. This ter- 
rifies the operators still more. Matters become worse and 
8 



86 INSENSIBILITY TO PAIN. 

worse, and at last a doctor is sent for, who is equally inex- 
perienced, and only does harm by his attempts to rouse the 
poor sleeper. 

There are two rules which should be borne in mind when 
any such case occurs, although the best rule of all is not to 
attempt magnetism without at least the presence of an ex- 
perienced magnetiser. The first is, that the sleep in itself 
is salutary, and that when the proper mode of ending it, 
namely, by upward or reversed passes, or by wafting, is not 
known, hurried and nervous proceedings will almost infalli- 
bly clo harm. The operator ought to become cool, and then 
employ reversed passes. No one else should interfere with 
the patient, for cross magnetism is generally hurtful. 
Secondly, if the operator cannot become collected and cool, 
so as to make the upward passes calmly, let the 'patient sleep 
it out. This is always safe, if he be not interfered with. 
The sleep may last an hour, or two, three, four, or twelve 
hours, or twenty-four, or even forty-eight hours, but it 
rarely lasts, if left entirely to take its own course, more 
than an hour or two. In the cases where it has lasted 
longest, thei*e has always been improper interference and 
cross magnetism. In all cases, if no interference have 
taken place, the state of the pulse and of the respiration 
may satisfy us that nothing is Ayrong, and we shall find the 
magnetic sleep no more dangerous, and no more likely to 
be of indefinite duration, than our usual nightly sleep. 

But to return to the use of magnetism to produce Anaes- 
thesia, or insensibility to pain. I have said that I regard 
it, ceteris paribus, as the best known method for doing this. 
It is the safest, and the sleep may last as long as the ope- 
rator requires, without the necessity of renewing the opera- 
tion. I do not hesitate to say that, in proper and experi- 
enced hands, it is free from all danger. 

There is, however, one objection, or rather difficulty, 
which applies to it. We cannot, in all cases, be sure of 
producing the sleep, and when an accident happens, we 
have no time to try long experiments. Now this is true to 
a certain extent. But if we had practised and powerful 
magnetisers, and if magnetism were generally tried, it 
would be found, even among ourselves, to succeed far more 
frequently than is supposed, and in persons under the effects 
of disease or accident, often at the first attempt. Still it 



YOUTHS MORE SUSCEPTIBLE THAN ADULTS. 87 

appears to be certain, that the natives of this country are 
not so easily and certainly magnetised as those of others, 
for example, of Bengal. At Calcutta, Dr. Esdaile, who 
has now performed hundreds of painless operations, never 
fails to magnetise the natives, while he has sometimes failed 
with Europeans. Nay more, Dr. Esdaile is not only him- 
self successful, but has numbers of native assistants who 
magnetise for him with perfect ease and success. We can- 
not at present expect the same measure of success in Eng- 
land, but we can at all events use magnetism where it is 
efficacious ; we can try it in all cases ; we can, in chronic 
diseases, and in the period preceding accouchement, endea- 
vor to acquire the necessary influence over our patients, so 
as to be prepared for the hour of the operation or the de- 
livery ; we can persuade healthy persons to have themselves 
brought under the influence of magnetism, that accident or 
disease may not find them unprepared; and finally, we can, 
by investigating the subject scientifically and experiment- 
ally, endeavor to discover some means of increasing mag- 
netic power, some magnetic battery, which shall enable us 
to magnetise any one at pleasure. The researches of 
Reichenbach tend to show that such an expectation is far 
from chimerical. 

With the same view, it would perhaps be advisable to 
begin early, and to magnetise young persons, who are in 
general more susceptible than adults, just as we teach them 
to swim, that they may be able, if necessary, to save their 
own lives or those of others. If once magnetised, the effect 
would be easily kept up. Were this done generally, not 
only should v/e gain our object in regard to the persons 
magnetised, but we should acquire so vast a mass of interest- 
ing observations, that the progress of magnetic science 
would be greatly promoted and accelerated. I shall con- 
tinue the description of the phenomena in my next Letter, 



88 CONTROL EXERCISED BY THE OPERATOR 



LETTER V. 

8. The sleeper is usually very much under the control of 
the operator in reference to the duration of the sleep. The 
operator may fix any time, long or short, and if the sleeper 
promise to sleep for that period, he will do so to a second. 
He then wakes up, and is instantly quite free from all 
effect, without any further process. The utility of this 
power is very obvious, especially in cases of pain or surgi- 
cal operations. 

But if no time be fixed by the operator, the sleeper 
awakes spontaneously, after a longer or shorter interval, 
generally from half an hour to two hours, at least in the 
cases I have seen. Sometimes, and especially if urged with 
many questions, requiring exertion to answer, the sleeper 
declares that he is fatigued, and begs to be awakened. It 
is always best to yield to this wish, and to avoid fatiguing 
the subject, since over-exertion has a most unfavorable in- 
fluence on his powers. 

9. Whether the time of sleeping be fixed by the operator 
or left to nature, the sleeper, in a large number of cases, 
can tell, when asked, and generally very readily, precisely 
how long he has to sleep ; and if he be repeatedly asked at 
different times, he will always be found correct as to the 
time still remaining. This is a truly remarkable phenome- 
non; for, in the power of telling how long he is to sleep, 
we may see, and especially where no time has been fixed, 
the first glimmering of the power of prevision, and it is 
sometimes the only indication of this power. Different 
subjects give different accounts of how they become aware 
of the point of time at which their sleep is to terminate. 
But many of them declare that they see the figures indicat- 
ing the number of minutes, or divisions which they can 
count, by which means they can give the desired informa- 
tion. I shall mention, under the head of clairvoyance, 
some remarkable details, which I noted down as they occur- 
red, in a case of much interest, under my own management. 

10. The sleeper, often when he is first put to sleep, and 
still oftener after several times, will answer a variety of 



ON THE PATIENT. 89 

questions as to the best and most effectual method of mag- 
netising him, whether by passes or otherwise; as to the 
powers which he will hereafter possess ; and as to the time 
when he shall acquire those powers, or exhibit certain phe- 
nomena. He will often fix with precision, and, as it after- 
wards appears, with exactness, the number of times that he 
must be magnetised or put to sleep in order to produce cer- 
tain effects, and whether this should be done once a-day or 
twice a-day, or less frequently. Here again we have a 
dawning of prevision, which, in a higher stage, as we shall 
see, enables him to predict certain occurrences in reference 
to his own state of health, for example. But this also must 
be reserved for the section on clairvoyance. 

11. Although the sleeper, in general, has no recollection 
when awake of what has passed in the sleep, this is far 
from being an uniform occurrence. Some remember a part, 
others the whole, of what has taken place. But even in 
many of those cases, in which there is naturally no remem- 
brance of it, the operator, if he choose, may command his 
subject, during the sleep, to remember a part or the whole 
of what has occurred, which will then be remembered ac- 
cordingly. I have already alluded to this under divided 
consciousness. I do so again here as a proof of the influ- 
ence of the magnetiser on the sleeper. In these experi- 
ments, it is often desirable to enable the subject to remem- 
ber, when awake, certain things ; and it is probable that the 
magnetiser will find that he has equally the power, when he 
tries it, of causing the sleeper to forget all or part of what 
has occurred in the sleep, in those cases in which he natu- 
rally remembers it. This also is often very desirable. It 
has already been mentioned that when asleep, the subject 
is in connection with the previous sleeps he may have had, 
and remembers them more or less perfectly, according to 
his natural powers of memory. 

It is exceedingly probable, although it has not, so far as 
I know, been ascertained, that in ordinary spontaneous som- 
nambulism, the sleep-walker remembers his previous acts of 
somnambulism. 

We must not confound this forgetting what occurs in the 
sleep, after waking, or remembering in the sleep what has 
occurred in previous sleeps, which are the results of divided 
or double consciousness, with the loss of memory which may 

8* 



90 THE OPERATOR CONTROLS HIS 

be produced for the time, in either state, by the will of the 
operator. We shall see when we come to the effects produ- 
cible in the conscious state, that the memory may become 
entirely subject to the will of the magnetiser. Here we pro- 
ceed to notice: — 

12. That the subject, while asleep, may be made to forget 
anything that he would otherwise remember, by the will of 
the operator. He may be made to forget, not only what 
has happened in the former sleeps, but even that he has ever 
slept, or been magnetised before. He often forgets spon- 
taneously his own name, and if not, can be made to do so. 
This is another proof of the control exercised by the mag- 
netiser on his subject. 

13. This control is further shown by the power which the 
operator has of producing in the sleeper, inability to move 
the arm or leg, to speak, to rise up or sit down, by his will. 
It is shown in the production of partial or general cataleptic 
rigidity and its removal. It is shown, in short, in the com- 
plete command of all the voluntary muscles of the subject 
acquired by the operator. 

14. It further appears in the power of causing the sleeper 
instantaneously to imitate, with the most perfect and admi- 
rable mimicry, every gesture of the operator, and every tone, 
of his voice. If the magnetiser speaks German or Italian, 
languages perhaps quite unknown to the subject, and with 
the greatest rapidity, the sleeper will speak after him so 
exactly, that it is often impossible, when his ear is acute in 
catching the minute shades of sound, to perceive the slightest 
difference. If the magnetiser laughs, he instantly laughs ; 
if the former make any gesture, however ridiculous, the latter 
imitates it exactly, and all this with closed eyes, and when 
the operator is behind him, so that he cannot be seen. The 
same subject when awake, will often, indeed generally, be 
found to fail miserably in his attempts at this instantaneous 
mimicry, and indeed to fail even when he takes more time 
to it. 

15. The sleeper, if naturally insensible to the voice or to 
the actions of all but his magnetiser, may be put en rapport 
with any other person. This may be done by simply giv- 
ing him the person's hand, in many cases. In others, the 
sleeper requires to be tolcl to communicate with that person, 
and this having been done, he becomes as completely and 



PATIENT IN VARIOUS WAYS. 91 

exclusively en rapport with him as he before was with the 
magnetiser. It often happens, that the stranger thus placed 
en rapport with the subject, must again retransfer him to 
the magnetiser, before the latter can communicate with him. 
The transference from one to another, in such cases, is 
usually attended with a start on the part of the sleeper, but 
he does not awake. 

16. All the feelings, propensities, and talents of the 
sleeper, may be excited to action by the magnetiser, and that 
in various ways, either by merely touching the correspond- 
ing parts of the head, as in what is called Phreno-mesmer- 
ism, to be hereafter considered, or, as comes naturally to 
be considered in this place, by the expressed will of the 
operator. 

The subject may be rendered happy and gay, or sad and 
dejected ; angry, or pleased ; liberal, or stingy ; proud, or 
vain ; pugnacious, or pacific ; bold, or timid ; hopeful, or 
despondent ; insolent, or respectful ; &c. &c. He may be 
made to sing, to spout, to laugh, to weep, to act, to dance, 
to shoot, to fish, to preach, to pray, to deliver an eloquent 
oration, or to excogitate a profound argument. All this the 
magnetiser, in many cases, can cause him to do, and indeed 
a great deal more, by commanding him to do it, as I have 
often seen, nay, as I have myself done. I have heard a 
sleeper give a lecture on temperance, or on Animal Magnet- 
ism ; I have heard the most beautiful prayers, and most 
poetic imagery, from the mouths of persons who, in their or- 
dinary state, were quite unequal to such things. And as we 
shall see hereafter, all this can also be done when the sub- 
ject is in the conscious state. 

17. In all such experiments I have observed, and it has 
been observed and recorded by others, that the gestures and 
voice, the manner and expression, in short, the whole phy- 
siognomical and natural language, is extremely perfect. The 
attitudes of pride, humility, anger, fear, kindness, pugnacity, 
devotion, or meditation, and all others, are, with peculiarities 
in each case, depending on the idiosyncrasy of the indivi- 
dual, beautiful studies for the artist. The most accomplished 
actor or mimic, a Garrick, or a Mathews, falls short of the 
wonderful truth and nature of these attitudes and gestures, 
as I have seen them in numerous cases, and most frequently 



92 EFFECTS OF MUSIC ON PERSONS 

in persons of limited intellectual cultivation, who, in their 
waking state, showed no peculiar talent for pantomime. 

I have already stated, and may here repeat, that subjects 
of a superior refinement of character, exhibit, as all do more 
or less, an exaltation of refinement when in the magnetic 
sleep ; I now add, that they further, when the higher senti- 
ments are intentionally excited, exhibit a purity, beauty, and 
sublimity of gesture, attitude, and expression of countenance, 
equalling, nay, far surpassing, all that the greatest artist 
has ever conceived or executed. Did all artists know, as 
some do, how precious a fountain of inspiration exists in 
these magnetic phenomena, they would spend hours in study- 
ing them. It is not improbable that some of the great 
masters did so, and, at all events, the appearance of magnet- 
ised persons constantly recalls to us, as an imperfect imi- 
tation of what we see, the saints, angels, and virgins of Ra- 
phael, Guido, Gorregio, Murillo, &c. I am convinced, that 
ere long, artists will have recourse to magnetism for expres- 
sion, as they now have to the nude subject for forms. 

A most beautiful case of this kind lately occurred to a 
magnetiser of my acquaintance, when a gentleman, highly 
distinguished as an artist and a man of taste, was so en- 
chanted with what he saw, that it was arranged that the 
magnetiser should produce the effects at a subsequent time, 
to be studied and copied by an artist of great talent. This 
has not, I believe, yet been possible, owing to the absence 
of some of the parties from the somewhat remote scene of 
the experiments. 

I have myself seen one case, of a young and pretty girl, 
thirteen or fourteen years of age, belonging to a family in 
a humble station, whose countenance became, in the mag- 
netic sleep, and especially when devout feelings were excited, 
and when music was performed, lovely and heavenly in ex- 
pression, to a degree beyond my power to describe. Her 
face beamed with a spiritual etherial beauty, such as I 
had previously never even conceived. In that case, the 
organisation of the brain was, in the coronal region, the 
seat of the organs of the higher sentiments, particularly fine. 
The organs of the intellectual faculties were well developed, 
while those of the lower propensities were much below the 
average proportion. 

In short the characteristic of the phenomena thus obtained 



IN THE MAGNETIC SLEEP. 93 

is their entire truthfulness ; and this, strange to say, is often 
the cause of doubts as to their genuineness, in the minds of 
those who see them for the first time. If the subject be 
uneducated, there will always remain, even while he be- 
comes improved and refined in manners to a considerable 
extent in the sleep, a certain something, which marks the 
uncultivated mind. Hence his performance, although true 
to nature, is not perfect, and looks very like acting, pre- 
cisely because the best acting is that which approaches 
nearest to nature, and yet can never reach it. When ex- 
periments are made with a person of fine natural disposition 
arid highly cultivated mind, the results are so beautiful as 
to delight all spectators. 

18. I must here mention a circumstance, which I have 
remarked in every case in which I have tried the experiment, 
or seen it tried. It is, that the sleeper is invariably much 
more strongly affected by music than when in his ordinary 
state. All the subjects on whom I have seen it tried, have 
been agreeably influenced by it. Their faces brighten, and 
they usually assume attitudes and gestures corresponding 
to the character of the music. Thus, a reel or a quadrille 
will set them dancing, and those of fine temperament do so 
with singular grace, while the clownish stump about with 
much vigor, but little elegance. I have seen this occur in 
persons of both kinds, who had never learned to dance, ex- 
cept from nature. A solemn strain, again, will readily 
cause them to kneel and pray, or to join in the devotional 
music. A warlike march or quickstep will cause them to 
march and strut about, and often to exhibit a very pugna- 
cious pantomime. All this will take place, more or less, in 
persons who have in their ordinary state no love for music, 
or care, at all events, little for it. It would appear also, 
from the observations of Mr. H. E. Lewis, that a strain of 
soft music often assists in inducing the sleep in new sub- 
jects. This agrees with the recorded fact, that music has 
always formed a part of the magician's arrangements. 
When a sorcerer wished to cause those who consulted him 
to see visions, that is, to become somnambulists, he always 
used soft music and fumigations. 

19. Not only are the attitudes and gesture, the tone of 
voice and the expression of the face, true to nature, in the 
expression of every feeling that is excited, but this truthful- 



94 TRUTHFULNESS OF SOMNAMBULISM. 

ness extends to all that is said by the sleeper. As a general, 
perhaps invariable rule, he refuses, whatever questions may- 
be asked, or suggestions made, to go beyond what he feels 
sure of, in describing his own sensations, or his visions, if 
w T e may call them so. The spectator often unconsciously 
does his best to mislead him by leading questions, and also, 
by such as arise from a misconception of his meaning. Yet 
of all things observed in the sleep, that which constantly 
recurs, and most forcibly strikes us, is the frequent repeti- 
tion of the words, " I don't know exactly ;" "I cannot say 
forcertain;" " I cannot see whether it is so or not ;" "I must 
not say what I do not see, or feel, or know," and the like ; 
while, when the sleeper once sees, feels, or knows a thing, 
he adheres firmly to it. This truthfulness gives great value 
to experiments properly made. 

I have always admitted the possibility of deceit in Animal 
Magnetism, when practised for the sake of money. And I 
believe that cases have occurred of genuine somnambulists, 
who, under certain circumstances, have been guilty of im- 
posture. Let us suppose a person who is really possessed 
of certain powers, in the magnetic sleep, but who is greedy 
of gain, and vain of his powers. If, as I have shown to be 
probable, he should, on some public occasion, find his power 
much less than usual, or should be deprived of it by over- 
exertion in previous experiments, which have succeeded, 
not only is his vanity hurt, but his prospects of gain are 
diminished, and if, as may happen, he does not possess the 
highest sense of truth and honor, he may try to make up 
for deficient power by deceit. I have some reason to believe 
that individuals, of whose power at times no doubt can rea- 
sonably be entertained, have, when over-fatigued, or by 
some chance, less lucid than usual, endeavored to cover 
failure by deceit. Of course, although I might believe such 
persons to possess great lucidity at certain times, and to 
have acted thus dishonestly simply from the desire to escape 
the confession of failure and the loss of expected gain, yet 
I should not use the evidence derived from such cases. It 
is best to reject all evidence to which any suspicion can 
attach. There is abundance of unexceptionable evidence, 
if we only look for it, and I would look with suspicion on 
the evidence derived from the public exhibitions of those 
who make a trade of such exhibitions, and use paid subjects. 



TRUTHFULNESS OF SOMNAMBULISM. 95 

These remarks apply more particularly to clairvoyance, 
but I 'have alluded to the subject here, because they apply 
also to the lower phenomena. I shall have to refer to the 
matter again, briefly, "when treating of the higher pheno- 
mena. 

20. I have not yet fully noticed another fact, namely, that 
the operator finds much greater difficulty in producing the 
sleep at first, than he does after it has been produced several 
times. It often happens, and has several times occurred to 
myself, that in a subject, in whom the sleep could not at first 
be induced in less than from half-an-hour to an hour or more, 
with constant and laborious exertion in making passes, or 
gazing with an intent volition and the most complete concen- 
tration of the mind on the subject, the same person may, in 
a day or two, or a week, or a month, be put to sleep, and 
that far more deeply than at first, in five minutes, or one 
minute, or half a minute, or quarter of a minute. Nay, some 
subjects are entranced by a single rapid pass, or by a look. 
Many subjects, however, never reach this degree of suscep- 
tibility; but in all, it becomes easier, after some practice, to 
induce the sleep, than it was at first, 

It is often observed, that those who are slowly and gradu- 
ally brought up to a high degree of susceptibility make the 
best subjects. At all events, we should never be discouraged 
by want of complete success, or even by failure, in our first 
trials. 

Cases have been recorded, in which the sleep never oc- 
curred till after hundreds of operations, and yet became very 
deep, and exhibited beautiful phenomena. I believe, from 
w r hat I have seen, that every one possesses the power to mag- 
netise others, though in variable degrees ; and further, that 
every one may be himself magnetised, with patience and 
perseverance on the part of the operator. It must be borne 
in mind, too, that the sleep is not essential, either to the 
relief of suffering, the cure of disease, or the production of 
many beautiful results, which, we have seen, occur in the 
conscious state, as will be more particularly described here- 
after. Patience and perseverance, with a strong resolution 
to succeed, should be the magnetiser's motto. They are the 
most powerful aids to magnetism. 

It would appear, that persons of a very marked tempera- 
ment, most readily affect those of the opposite temperament. 



96 GREAT VARIETY IN THE 

Thus, a person of a strongly marked, nervous bilious tem- 
perament, will succeed best with subjects who are sarlguine 
lymphatic. A large brain or active temperament are favour- 
able to magnetic power. A powerful and very active intel- 
lect, in the subject, is not exactly opposed to his being mag- 
netised, but renders it often more difficult, because the con- 
stant activity of the mind opposes the concentration of the 
thoughts on the object of being magnetised, w^hich is so 
desirable, and also counteracts the attempt to attain that 
passive state which may be called essential to the result. 
In experiments made in public, on parties never before mag- 
netised, this passive state of mind is almost unattainable by 
them. They are excited by the desire of seeing and per- 
haps of explaining strange facts ; they are also nervous be- 
fore so many people ; they are afraid of being made ridicu- 
lous, or of having secrets extracted from them ; and, finally, 
they often resist the influence to the utmost of their power; 
that is, they keep up an active state, not aware, that to be 
acted on, they must be passive. This is one reason why 
experiments made in strict privacy succeed in a proportion 
of cases so much larger. 

One reason why so many susceptible subjects are found, 
especially in public exhibitions, among the less educated 
classes, is, that their intellectual powers are not in so con- 
stant activity as is the case with men, for example, engaged 
in business or in professional and scientific or literary pur- 
suits. They become, therefore, more readily passive. 

I have already observed that the Hindoos, and the natives 
of India generally, are more uniformly susceptible, even 
to men of their own nation, than Europeans. This depends 
on the temperament. It would appear, that negroes also 
are both highly susceptible subjects, and very powerful %aag- 
netisers. The obi of the West Indies and of Africa, depends 
for its influence on their susceptibility; and the distinguished 
negro magnetiser, Mr. H. E. Lewis, possesses in a very rare 
degree, the power of magnetising others. I embrace with 
pleasure this opportunity of testifying, not only to that gen- 
tleman's qualifications as a magnetiser, but -to his great 
abilities, his pure and disinterested love of science, his gen- 
tlemanlike manners and amiable character, his great readi- 
ness to assist, in every possible way, those who desire to 
investigate the subject with the single object of discovering 



SUSCEPTIBILITY OF SUBJECTS. 97 

truth, and his intimate practical knowledge of the subject 
in every department. 

21. After the operator has succeeded in producing the 
sleep easily and in a short time, he can, in many cases, pro- 
duce it by the silent exertion of the will, without any passes, 
or other process of any kind. This I have myself done, 
and in one case, where the subject was deeply engaged in 
conversation without any idea that I intended anything of 
the kind, as I had taken, up to that moment, an active share 
in the conversation, I put him into a sound magnetic sleep 
in 25 seconds, (his eyes having been directed to other per- 
sons present,) by the silent power of the will. I sat about 
four or five feet from him, to one side. 

In doing this, it is therefore, at least in some cases, quite 
immaterial, whether the subject be aware of the intention of 
the operator or not. In this case, after sleeping an hour 
exactly, as I commanded him to do, he woke suddenly at 
the appointed time, and his first remark was, when I asked 
if he had had a pleasant sleep, " Oh yes ! but you did not 
tell me you were going to magnetise me." Similar facts 
are of daily occurrence. 

22. In such instances as that just mentioned, the subject 
is put to sleep by the operator, when the latter is in the 
same room, or near him. But this also may be dispensed 
with. I have often seen persons put to sleep, both when 
aware of the intention, and when that has been concealed, 
by the operator from the next room, or the floor below or 
above. The fact is, that with a susceptible subject, distance 
is a matter of little or no moment. The influence, whatever 
it be, seems to travel to any distance, like light. Many facts 
of this kind, at distances much greater than I have now 
mentioned, have been recorded. I shall here give an in- 
stance, the details of w x hich I can testify to, as having oc- 
curred in my own family. 

Mr. Lewis met a party of fifty ladies and gentlemen in 
my house, one evening in the end of November or begin- 
ning of December 1850. He acted on the company en masse, 
and affected several, among them a lady, a member of my 
family, who was susceptible, and had frequently been mag- 
netised by others. This lady, when magnetised, loses the 
power of her arms, her eyes are closed, and the sensations 
she experiences are very marked and well known to her* 
9 



98 SLEEP PRODUCED AT A DISTANCE, 

Mr. Lewis, not being told how strongly she had been affected 
by him, did not do anything to remove the effect, and the 
consequence was a headache, to which she is naturally very 
subject. This she ascribed to her not having been demag- 
netised, and it continued next morning. When I saw Mr. 
Lewis, after my lecture, at 11 a.m., he^asked me how the 
lady was. I mentioned the headache, as well as her idea 
of the cause of it. Mr. Lewis then said, " Oh ! never mind 
the headache. I shall think of her sometime during the 
day, and dismiss her headache." This I begged him to do, 
as I knew that such things could be done. He then left 
me. When I returned home, at 5 P.M., I had quite forgot- 
ten this conversation, when the lady in question recalled it 
by saying, as I entered the room, " What do you think of 
this? 'I have been magnetised in your absence." " Indeed? 
by whom?" "By nobody. I was sitting at the piano-forte, 
playing, at half-past three, when I felt as if strongly mag- 
netised ; my arms lost their power ; I could no longer play, 
and had all the usual sensations. In a few minutes I was 
compelled to lie down on the sofa, and fell into a short 
magnetic sleep. When I woke, my headache was quite 
gone.'' "Did you mention this to any one at the time?" 
" I was alone, but, just as I woke, a lady, who was here 
last night, called, and I told her of it, adding, that I felt 
sure that Mr. Lewis was magnetising me." I then said 
that he had undertaken to do so, but that I did not know 
whether he had done it or not. In the evening I saw Mr. 
Lewis again, at a large party, and, in the presence of Dr. 
W. F. Cumming, who felt much interested in the case, I 
asked him whether he had kept his promise about the lady's 
headache. He said he had. Dr. Cumming then asked him 
at what time, when he at once answered, "at half-past three, 
when I returned to my lodgings. I could not do it sooner." 
It appears to me that every thing was here combined to 
make the case a good one. It was accidental. The subject 
had no idea either that she was to be magnetised, nor of 
the time; and a lady came opportunely to attest the fact 
before my return, while a gentleman heard Mr. Lewis' 
answers to my questions and his own. I may add, that the 
lodgings of Mr. Lewis are in South St. Andrew Street, 
while my house is at 114 Prince's Street, a distance of 
nearly four divisions of Prince's Street, or, I should suppose, 



ATTRACTION TO THE OPERATOR. 99 

500 or 600 yards. I may further state, that on two other 
occasions, Mr. Lewis affected the same lady, at the same 
and at a greater distance, without her knowing that he was 
to do so. 

It appears, from this, and other facts of the same kind, 
that, in susceptible subjects, distance forms no obstacle to 
the action of the magnetic influence of the operator, 
although it may possibly retard or weaken it to a certain 
extent. When we first hear of such a thing, we are natu- 
rally incredulous, but when we have seen it, or produced it, 
several times, we are not only compelled to accept the fact, 
but to feel that it must depend on a natural cause, w^hich it 
is our business to investigate. 

23. Not only may the subject be put to sleep by the silent 
will, but he may be made, also by the silent will, to exhibit 
all the phenomena already described as producible by the 
expressed volition of the operator. 

He may be made, in this way, to come to the operator, 
or to sit down in any place, or to perform any act, which 
the magnetiser may will him to do. It is unnecessary here 
to repeat details ; it suffices to say, that, in many cases, every 
thing that can be done by the expressed will, may be done 
also by the silent will, of the latter. This, too, occurs also 
in the conscious state. 

24. Another remarkable fact, is a kind of attraction felt 
towards the magnetiser, and which he, by willing, can exert 
in many cases. The subject then feels an irresistible desire 
to approach him, and if prevented, will exert great force to 
overcome the obstacle. He cannot explain it farther than 
by saying, that he is drawn somehow towards him ; some, 
however, speak of fine filament or threads, often luminous, 
by which they are gently drawn to him. 

This strange attraction may also be exhibited at a distance. 
I have been informed, on the best authority, of a case where 
it was exerted at the distance of 100 yards or more, and 
where the subject moved towards the operator, till stopped 
by the wall of the house in which she was, in spite of the 
resistance offered by a strong man. This may also be shown 
in the conscious state. 

25. In some cases, there is observed a permanent liking 
for the magnetiser, in the ordinary waking state of the sub- 
ject. I have not had opportunities of seeing this, but it is, 
I believe, a well authenticated fact. 

I n F C 



100 COMMANDS GIVEN IN THE SLEEP 

26. This leads me to another very curious phenomenon, 
namely, that the sleeper, if commanded, in the sleep, to do 
a certain thing, after waking, and at a certain hour, will do 
so, and however absurd or ridiculous the act, he cannot, in 
many cases, refrain from doing it, if he has promised it in 
the sleep. 

He may have been ordered to go to a certain person's 
house, at a certain hour, and ask some trifling or useless 
question. As the time approaches, he is seen to be restless, 
till he sets out for his destination. He pays no attention to 
the people he may meet, and if they purposely arrest him, 
he forces his way onwards, asks his question, and can only 
say, that he felt that he must do so. He is often much hurt 
at the ridicule excited by his action, and, therefore, should 
not be made to do anything that may excite ridicule, as, if 
that be persevered in, he will refuse compliance with the order 
or request, when made. This, at least, often happens. 

This power, of influencing the waking actions by a promise 
made in the sleep, may be most usefully applied. I lately 
saw a person, who had been induced by Mr. Lewis to promise, 
while in the sleep, to abstain from fermented liquors, and 
had, in his ordinary state, steadily adhered to that promise, 
ever since it was made, three or four months before ; nor 
had he the slightest desire to break it. I do not know 
whether he was aware of having made the promise, but that 
is not at all essential. The desire is extinguished, even 
when the subject has no recollection of the promise, and has 
not been told of it in his waking state. Mr. Lewis informs 
me, that he has broken many persons off the habit of drink- 
ing, as well as of other bad habits in this way. From what 
I have seen, I am satisfied, that a pledge given in the mag- 
netic sleep, will be found more binding than one given in the 
ordinary waking state. 

I have now described, briefly, the most obvious and remark- 
able of what are called the lower phenomena, although it 
will be seen that they pass, insensibly, into the higher. 

Proceeding further, we shall find that the higher pheno- 
mena develope themselves. The subject, in many cases, 
after a time, exhibits the highest degree of sympathy with 
the operator, or with those placed en rapport with himself ; 
or he acquires the power of clairvoyance in some one or more 
of its varied forms, 



INFLUENCE THE WAKING ACTIONS. 101 

These subjects we shall go on to investigate in the next 
Letter. Meantime, let me remark, that the occurrence of 
these phenomena rests on the very same testimony as that 
of those already described ; that this testimony is frequently 
of the highest possible character ; and that, in truth, the so- 
called lower phenomena, which we have seen to shade into 
the higher, are not in the least more easily explained or 
understood than the latter. 

It appears to me certain, that both classes of phenomena 
depend essentially on the same cause, and that, a natural 
cause. There is nothing supernatural or miraculous about 
sympathy or clairvoyance, if we will only examine them. 
They occur, as we shall see, spontaneously, and have been 
observed from the earliest ages. It is probable that the 
ancients were well acquainted with them, that this know- 
ledge, being kept secret, and perhaps used for bad, certainly 
for interested objects, by those who had the exclusive posses- 
sion of it, had been lost, and that it was necessary to recover 
it, which was first effectually done, in great part at least, by 
Mesmer, although Van Helmont, and many others before 
Mesmer, had obtained glimpses of the truth. 



LETTER VI. 

We now come to what are called the higher pheno- 
mena, namely, Sympathy and Clairvoyance. It has been 
shown that these are connected, by insensible gradations, 
with the lower or more usual phenomena, and that, as both 
classes of facts depend, so far as we know, on the same 
cause, and both are equally inexplicable on ordinary prin- 
ciples, or rather equally explicable, the one class cannot, 
with strict propriety, be called higher or lower than the 
other. Nevertheless, as the effects of Sympathy and Clair- 
voyance have a peculiar character, which would partake of 
the supernatural, were we not convinced that they depend 
on natural causes, and have nothing miraculous about them, 
it may be convenient to use the term Higher Phenomena, 
on the understanding that this does not imply a difference 

9* 



102 SYMPATHY. COMMUNITY OF TASTE. 

in nature, but only in degree, for those to which we now 
proceed, in contradistinction to those already treated of. 

And first, of Sympathy. This power, as we have seen, 
begins to appear in the earlier stages, and is shown in the 
form of an attraction towards the magnetiser, or in that of 
obedience to his silent will. But as we advance, it is fur- 
ther developed, so as to become the chief characteristic of 
a certain stage of the magnetic sleep. The sleeper acquires 
the power of perceiving every sensation, bodily and mental, 
of his magnetiser. Nay, he often exhibits a like power in 
reference to all with whom he is placed en rapport, espe- 
cially when this is done by contact. These sensations are 
so vividly felt by the sleeper, that he cannot distinguish 
them from the same sensations produced by direct external 
impressions on his own frame. Indeed, there appears to be 
no difference whatever between the two. He feels what is 
felt by the person en rapport with him, as truly as if the 
original impressions were made upon himself. He forms, 
for the time, a part of the person on whom the direct im- 
pressions are made, and all sensations, or many sensations, 
are common to both parties. 

1. There is Community of Taste. If the operator, or 
other person, en rapport with the subject, takes any kind 
of food or drink into his mouth, the sleeper, in many cases, 
instantly begins going through the pantomime of eating or 
drinking; and, if asked, he declares he is eating bread, or 
an orange, or sweetmeats, or drinking water, wine, milk, 
beer, syrup, or lemonade, or infusion of wormwood, or 
brandy, or whisky, according as the operator takes each of 
them, or any other substance. When the thing taken is 
bitter or disagreeable, the countenance of the sleeper at 
once indicates this, while his eyes, as usual, are closed, and 
the magnetiser or friend may stand behind him, so that he 
cannot see what is taken. Minute details would be tedious. 
Suffice it to say, that I have seen and tested the fact in so 
many cases, that I regard it as firmly established. More- 
over, no one who has had opportunities of observing this 
beautiful phenomenon, can long hesitate as to its entire truth, 
such is the expression of genuine sensation on the face and 
gesture, besides the distinct statements made by the sleeper. 
Like all the other phenomena, this one varies in extent and 



COMMUNITY OF SENSES. 103 

intensity in different cases. But it is very frequent with 
advanced subjects. 

2. The same thing occurs with regard to Smell. If the 
person en rapport with the sleeper, smell a rose, the latter 
at once begins to inhale the delightful perfume. If he smell 
assafetida, the sleeper expresses disgust; and if he place 
strong hartshorn under his own nostrils, the sleeper starts 
back, complaining of its pungency. The Community of 
smelling is just as perfect as that of taste, in many cases ; 
but I cannot affirm, that where one is present, the other 
always occurs. This is probable, but I have not strictly 
examined it. Of course, as before explained, the sleeper 
may be rendered dead to either or to both, by the will of 
the magnetiser, in many instances. 

3. There is Community of Touch. Whatever touches 
the person en rapport, is felt by the sleeper, in precisely 
the same part. If the former shake hands with any one, 
the latter instantly grasps a visionary hand. If a pin be 
driven into the back of the magnetiser' s hand, the sleeper 
hastily withdraws his hand, rubs the part, and complains 
loudly of the injury. This may be tried in all forms with 
perfect success in very many subjects. These are never 
deceived. Many most interesting experiments may thus 
be made, and I have, as in the preceding facts, often seen 
and minutely tested the phenomenon. 

4. I cannot with certainty state whether the same com- 
munity extends to the Sight. Possibly, the fact that the 
eyes are closed, and usually turned up, as well as insensible 
to light, which, in fact, constitutes a leading feature of the 
sleep, may serve to explain why this is not in general tried. 
The sleeper's eye may be quite dead to all external impres- 
sions, even where he possesses internal vision; and the 
sensations above treated of are the results of external im- 
pressions, conveyed to him by sympathy. The question is, 
can he, internally, see what the magnetiser sees externally, 
as he tastes, smells, and feels ? If in a state of clairvoy- 
ance, no doubt he can, for he then sees all surrounding 
objects, with his eyes closed. But that state is not neces- 
sary to the above mentioned community of sensations, and 
we must distinguish true clairvoyance, as w T e shall soon see, 
from that which depends on sympathy. On the whole, I 



104 COMMUNITY OF EMOTIONS. 

am inclined to think, that the state of the eye is opposed to 
the making of such experiments in a satisfactory manner. 

5. In regard to Hearing, I have not seen experiments 
tried in this way. I have already said, that the sleeper is 
usually deaf to all but the voice of the magnetiser, or of the 
person en rapport with him. Does he hear what is said to 
that person by others ? I have no doubt that, in many 
cases, he does; and that in this way, he often becomes ac- 
quainted with matters intended to be kept secret from him. 
This should be carefully attended to in making experi- 
ments. 

6. There is often, but perhaps less so than in regard to 
the senses, a Community of Emotion. In these cases, what- 
ever mental emotion occurs in the magnetiser, or in others 
placed en rapport with the sleeper, is also experienced by 
him. I have not yet examined this phenomenon so minutely 
or fully as the others, on account of the difficulty of calling 
up at pleasure, a genuine and marked emotion. On this 
account, the observations are commonly accidental. Thus, 
I have seen some patients smile and laugh when their mag- 
netiser happened to do so ; and I have also seen, what has 
been very often described by other observers, the sleeper 
painfully affected by nervousness and alarm on the part of 
the operator. 

This, indeed, as formerly hinted, is the cheif cause of all 
the unpleasant results which occasionally arise when persons, 
who have no experience or knowledge of Animal Magnetism, 
try, for amusement, or out of curiosity, to produce magnetic 
effects. They succeed better than they had supposed pos- 
sible, merely by imitating the gestures of some magnetiser 
whom they have seen operate, without, perhaps having 
attended minutely either to his operations or to the cautions 
and directions he may have given. The subject operated 
on, probably a young person, or even a young lady, falls 
into a deep sleep, and hears nothing that is addressed to 
her, perhaps by her father, mother, or other near relations. 
These persons become alarmed, never having before seen 
anything of the kind, and not being aware that this deaf- 
ness is a common character of the sleep, and that the Bleep is 
not only harmless, but beneficial. They ask the luckless 
operator, with much agitation, perhaps with some anger, to 
relieve her, and while he hesitates and becomes infected with 



DANGER OF RASH EXPERIMENTS. 105 

their fears, not knowing how to proceed, they seize her 
hands, and their own influence, unknown to them, crosses 
his, producing uneasiness, which appears in the countenance 
of the sufferer, and almost invariably out of all proportion 
more intensely pictured there, than truly corresponds, by 
the patient's own subsequent statement, to the actual suf- 
fering. This again frightens them still more ; they call on 
her, they weep, they rage against the magnetiser, and over- 
whelm him with reproaches. At last, goaded almost to 
madness, he tries to undo the charm. He takes the patient's 
hand, perhaps while several other persons are in contact 
with her, or acting on her, and by sympathy with him, she 
becomes instantly and seriously worse. This continues for 
a time, varied only by every sort of useless and hurtful in- 
terference on the part of the bystanders, not one of whom, 
perhaps, knows what ought to be done, and the unhappy 
victim of ignorance and temerity falls into a fainting fit, 
and possibly into severe convulsions. I need not pursue the 
unpleasant picture further, but I may suggest that it is only 
aggravated by the proceedings of the medical man finally 
summoned, if, as is too often the case, he have either ac- 
cidentally, or acting on a firm resolution, declined making 
himself familiar with these phenomena, or the laws which 
regulate them. Then, when it is too late, he regrets that 
carelessness or prejudice have led him to neglect facts, often 
presented to his notice ; then the parents discover that an 
able and estimable physician has been induced to commit a 
grievous error, namely, to shut his eyes to some of the most 
wonderful and practically important phenomena. But there 
is an end of their scepticism, if they had any ; possibly of 
the doctor's too. Yet even in such circumstances, where it 
has been quite evident that the slightest acquaintance with 
the matter would have enabled us to avoid all that suffering 
and danger, I have heard of physicians who drew no other 
moral from the occurrence than this, that Animal Magnet- 
ism was dangerous ; and they then shut their eyes to it as 
resolutely and as closely as before. 

True. Animal Mag-netism is danger ous. But it is not 
the study of it, nor the knowledge of it, but ignorance of it, 
and the rash experiments of those who are ignorant of it, 
that are dangerous. 

In the hands of qualified experimenters, I have never 



106 MAGNETISM SAFE IN GOOD HANDS. 

seen one unpleasant accident. I have heard of several in 
the circumstances above sketched, and on the authority of 
both the operators and of their subjects. But I can go 
farther. For I have never yet seen a case in which the 
magnetic sleep was produced in the proper way, in which 
the sleeper did not declare, not only that he sustained no 
injury, but also, that he always felt better, stronger, and 
more fit for work of any kind after the sleep than before it. 
And, in very many cases, the general health, if in any way 
bad, has been improved, or a complete cure effected, by a 
course of Animal Magnetism. I do not mean to say, that 
it never can prove injurious to any one ; because I have not 
sufficient experience to justify me in drawing such a con- 
clusion. But this I can say, that in all the cases I have 
seen in the hands of others, and in all that have been in my 
own hands, including in both categories many nervous per- 
sons, affected with various maladies, some of them precisely 
of that kind, such as heart complaints, which would appear 
the most likely to suffer from any undue excitement, the 
effect of the magnetic process in general, and of the sleep 
in particular, has always been soothing, and never, in any 
one instance, unpleasant to the patient, besides, as I have 
said, acting beneficially on the health. I regard it as 
equally safe and more beneficial to impaired health than 
ordinary sleep ; that is, as far as my experience goes. 

Of course, I do not here speak of exciting exhibitions of 
striking phenomena ; of causing excessive laughter, or rous- 
ing violent passions or emotions. That is a kind of experi- 
ment of which I entirely disapprove, as I do likewise of all 
those in w x hich strong and false impressions, especially of a 
disagreeable nature, are made in the mind ; as when a man 
is made to believe he is ruined, or that he is a wild beast. 
Not that these are always hurtful, but that they may, in 
very susceptible temperaments, become so. Such experi- 
ments, especially in the form of exhibition, are not justifi- 
able, and are at most permissible in private, with a view to 
the ascertaining a fact, necessary to complete our knowledge 
of the phenomena, and to enable us usefully to apply it. 

Public exhibitions of the phenomena of Animal Magnet- 
ism are not, in my humble opinion, good things. I have 
already given some reasons against them, and I would here 
add, that to employ these wonderful and beautiful facts 



INFLUENCE OF THE BYSTANDERS. 107 

merely to excite wonder and produce amusement, is a great 
abuse of our powers. Animal Magnetism is not a play- 
thing ; it is a serious, I would say, a sacred thing, which 
ought to be studied with reverence, and not degraded to 
minister to the idle curiosity of those who regard it merely 
as an exhibition, to be forgotten the hour after it has served 
to gratify our love of novelty, or to raise a laugh. — In pri- 
vate alone can it be properly studied. No one in a public 
hall, save, perhaps, one or two close to the subject, can see 
the phenomena as they ought to be seen, or judge aright of 
their truth, and of the beautiful evidence of that truth 
afforded by the countenance and manner of the sleeper. I 
have seen many persons who came from a public lecture 
quite unsatisfied, convinced in five minutes in a private 
room, where they could really see what was done and hear 
what was said. 

I have been led into this digression by considering the 
effects of sympathy in sometimes giving rise to unpleasant 
accidents, when magnetism is tried by the ignorant and inex- 
perienced. I would here repeat, what I have formerly stated, 
that, when such accidents unfortunately occur, the safest 
plan is to let the patient sleep out his sleep. The magnetiser, 
if he can recover his own composure, may, in general, easily 
awake him by upward or reversed passes. But it ought to 
be an invariable rule, never to try such experiments without 
the presence of one experienced magnetiser. 

7. Returning to the topic of sympathy, in the form of 
community of emotion, I would further point out the strong 
effects often produced on the sleeper by the bystanders. 
Many sleepers do not require to be placed en rapport with 
others, in order to be very strongly affected by their emo- 
tions. Thus sceptical, unreasonable, prejudiced, uncandid 
persons often excite, by their approach, the most unpleasant, 
often distressing sensations ; while the approach of the ra- 
tional and kind may easily, in many cases, be traced in the 
expression of the sleeper. But, above all, the approach of 
many different persons, all probably much excited, produces, 
in very susceptible cases, a great confusion of feelings, aris- 
ing, in part, from sympathy with their mind, in part from 
the crossing of so many streams of magnetic influence. 

This is one of the chief causes of failure in public exhibi- 
tions of the more delicate phenomena, as I have already ex- 



108 THOUGHT-READING 

plained. It ought always to be avoided, as far as possible. 
Fortunately for exhibitors, there are cases which are not 
much affected by this source of error and confusion. But 
some are so quick, that they will detect, by sympathy alone, 
the presence of one individual, and even discover his state 
of mind. 

8. This brings us to that peculiar form of sympathy which 
consists in reading the thoughts of others, especially of those 
en rapport with the sleeper. This is quite a distinct pheno- 
menon from feeling their emotions; it extends to tracing all 
the intellectual processes or images in their minds, and it 
thus constitutes a kind of clairvoyance, which niay be called 
sympathetic clairvoyance or thought-reading . It is, as we 
shall see, a very beautiful and interesting phenomenon. But 
before describing it, I would remark, that many persons, 
who are extremely averse to admit the existence of clairvoy- 
ance at all, are apt to suppose that they get rid of it, w r hen 
the facts are forced on their attention so that they can no 
longer be denied, by ascribing them to thought-reading, as 
if thought-reading, the powder of seeing into another man's 
soul (and through his body too), were at all less wonderful 
than the power of seeing through a stone wall, or a floor. 

To my apprehension, thought-reading is still more won- 
derful and . incomprehensible than that kind of clairvoy- 
ance, which takes note of material things at a distance. In 
the latter case, we can imagine some subtle, rare medium 
by which impressions may be conveyed to us, as light or 
sound are. But how do we perceive thoughts, not yet ex- 
pressed, in the mind of another ? 

It would appear, then, that those who would explain all 
clairvoyance by thought-reading, only fall from the frying- 
pan into the fire. They account for an apparently unac- 
countable phenomenon, by one still more incomprehensible. 

Yet both the phenomena are true ; and, as far as we 
know, both depend, essentially, on the same cause. After 
the discussion of thought-reading, we shall be prepared to 
enter on that of true, that is, direct clairvoyance. 

Thought reading presents itself in every possible variety 
of form. The sleeper, being placed en rapport with any 
person, can often describe, with the greatest accuracy, the 
subject that occupies the thoughts of that person. It may 
be an absent friend, or his own house, or that of another, 



IN ITS DIFFERENT FORMS. 109 

or his drawing-room, bed-room, study, &c. &c. All these 
things the sleeper perceives, as they pass through the mind 
of the experimenter, and describes with great minuteness 
and accuracy, so as to excite our astonishment. 

Or he goes further ; he not only perceives the present, 
but the past thoughts of the person en rapport with him ; 
he shares his memory. Thus he will mention facts, no 
longer so existing, but remembered by the experimenter. 

Nay, he goes still further even than this ; for he perceives 
things once known to, and now forgotten by, the experi- 
menter, who very often contradicts the sleeper, and persists 
in maintaining his own opinion, until, on further enquiry, he 
not only finds him to be right, but himself is enabled to re- 
cal the fact, which had, as we say, escaped his memory. 

We all know that we are apt, at times, to forget facts, 
which subsequently recur to the memory. But here, it 
would seem that the sleeper sympathises with our past 
thoughts, as to read what we ourselves are for the moment 
blind to. At least, this must be admitted by those who 
ascribe all clairvoyance to sympathy ; but it is difficult, in 
many cases, to distinguish between sympathetic and direct 
clairvoyance, if we admit the possibility of the latter. 

For example, the sleeper describes a room at the request 
of the experimenter. He details the form, size, doors, 
windows, book-cases, tables, carpet, fire-place, sofas, chairs, 
piano-forte, &c. &c, and, as he goes on, every statement is 
confirmed by the proprietor, who sees the whole in his mind's 
eye, as when he left it. But all at once, perhaps, the 
sleeper speaks of the hangings, or pictures, and says he 
sees the picture of a dog, a horse, or a man, in such or such 
a position, with reference to another object. This is denied; 
but the sleeper is firm. So is the other, and after a long 
dispute, each retains his opinion. But on returing home, 
the experimenter finds that he has been mistaken, and the 
sleeper right. He now remembers, that up to a certain 
period, the picture hung where he had said, but that he 
himself, or some one else, had changed its position to that 
described by the sleeper, as he himself formerly knew, but 
had forgotten. Similar occurrences are very common. But 
they admit of two explanations. 

In the first place, the sleeper, in many cases, declares 
that he reads the thought of the other party, and certainly 
10 



110 THOUGHT-READING. 

does so in some cases, even where he is not aware of doing 
so, but thinks he is looking directly at the objects described. 
Now, it may be, and this is the phenomenon properly under 
consideration, that he reads the past thought of the experi- 
menter, and, in some obscure manner, discovers that it is 
true, while the present thought is erroneous. 

Or it may be, that when asked to describe the room, the 
sleeper, finding the trace in the questioner's mind, follows 
it up until he comes into direct communication with the ob- 
ject, by direct clairvoyance. That this often happens, I 
think cannot be doubted, and we shall see further on, that 
the experiment may be so made as to prove it ; but I am 
also inclined to believe, that the former explanation applies 
in some cases, and that, in some instances, the mediate and 
immediate modes of perception of distant objects are mixed 
or combined. 

One frequent form of thought-reading is that of perceiv- 
ing the contents of a closed letter, or of a sealed packet, or 
of a sealed box. Some sleepers can do this readily, if en 
rapport with a person who knows these contents, but not 
otherwise. But here it must be noted, that, in some cases, 
the rapport is established without contact, so that it suffices 
for the sleeper, that one person who knows the contents of 
the closed objects should be present. And lastly, it appears 
that some subjects, who at one time possess the power of 
direct or immediate clairvoyance, at other times are desti- 
tute of this, and have only that of thought-reading. 

Of course, when it is done by thought-reading, failure 
will take place, when no one who knows the object to be de- 
scribed is present, while, on the entrance of such a person, 
the sleeper succeeds. All these things must be carefully 
attended to in our experiments, otherwise our results have 
no value whatever, and only lead to confusion. When a 
sleeper, of the sympathetic class, fails at one moment, and 
succeeds in the next, after a person at first absent has 
arrived, the idea of collusion arises in many minds ; whereas, 
if we were well acquainted with all the facts, and with their 
infinite variety, we should see, in that result, a new proof 
of the truth of the fact, and the integrity of the sleeper. 

Those who meet with cases, in which thought-reading is 
found to be the true explanation of the phenomena, should 
reflect, that thought-reading is, in itself, a beautiful and 



SOURCES OF ERROR. Ill 

most wonderful fact ; and should beware, also, of drawing 
the conclusion, that, because it applies to one case, or to 
many cases, of apparent vision at a distance, it is therefore 
sufficient to explain all cases, or the only explanation, if it 
can be called such, that is admissible. 

It often happens, as I have explained, that the sleeper or 
thought-reader is found right as to present facts, where he 
has been supposed to be wrong. But it also often happens, 
that he is supposed to be wrong, and is not afterwards 
shown to have been right. There are, in fact, many sources 
of error on both sides, which are often difficult of detection. 

Thus, the thought-reader may be dwelling on some past 
event, and be persuaded that it is present. The impressions 
of past and of present events are of equal vividness in his 
mind, being, in both cases, internal and indirect impressions. 
Hence he cannot readily distinguish between them, and may 
be quite correct, if we could discover the precise time to 
which his sensations refer. This must be carefully attended 
to, and our experiments regulated accordingly. 

Or he may receive erroneous impressions from suggested 
ideas. So powerful is his sympathy with other minds, that 
an idea, directly suggested, or indirectly introduced, as, for 
example, by a leading question, may often produce on his 
mind an impression as vivid as that caused by the thoughts 
or memory of his questioner, and all three may become mixed 
together. 

For this reason, all suggestions and leading questions 
should be carefully avoided, and the sleeper encouraged to 
tell his own story. Nor is the danger of error equally great 
in all cases. Many can readily distinguish the different 
kinds of impression, and steadily reject suggested ideas, even 
while some of them have a difficulty in distinguishing present 
from past events. Some, again, can do the latter also, and 
these, of course, are the best subjects. 

It often happens, that in early experiments, the operator 
is so excited by the novelty and interest of the facts, that he 
does not calmly examine, and involuntarily suggests, by silent 
sympathy, his own ideas to his subject. But after a few sit- 
tings he becomes more collected ; he has only the pure de- 
sire to hear what the sleeper says; the sleeper is not disturbed 
by involuntary suggestions, and his sensations come out more 
pure and less confused. Besides, his powers improve, and, 



112 SYMPATHY WITH BODILY STATE OF OTHERS. 

by practice, a sleeper, at first confused and often mistaken, 
may become, if properly treated, a very valuable one. 

Under the head of direct or immediate clairvoyance, I 
shall have to return more fully to these considerations. 

9. Sympathy extends often to the bodily state of the ope- 
rator, or other person en rapport with the sleeper. The 
latter will feel and describe every pain or ache felt by the 
former, and will even in some cases feel, or intuitively per- 
ceive, the morbid state of certain parts. He will say, that 
the other has a headache, or a pain in the side, or difficulty 
in breathing ; he will declare that the brain, or lungs, or 
liver, or stomach, or heart, &c. &c, are deranged in such or 
such a manner. And in many cases he will be right. I do 
not speak here of his seeing the state of these organs, which 
shall be hereafter considered. But the intuitive perception 
of health and disease, here alluded to, is very often found. 

10. This sympathetic intuitive sense of the state of body 
of another, may he exerted in the absence of the individual, 
provided a communication be established. For this purpose, 
a lock of hair, or any object that has been in contact with 
the person, even a recent specimen of handwriting, will suf- 
fice. The sleeper, aided by this, will enter into sympathy 
with the absent person, as if he were present, and will often 
be found quite accurate. This I have seen and tested re- 
peatedly. 

11. It has been said, that subjects, having this degree of 
sympathy, often also possess the power of indicating the 
appropriate remedy. I am always averse to speak decided- 
ly on that which I have not thoroughly examined. I shall 
not, therefore, say, that such power is impossible, nor that 
it has never occurred. But I can state, that in all such 
cases as I have seen, the sleeper uses or recommends the class 
of remedies, or the plan of treatment, which he has picked 
up, from having been treated himself, or from having been 
taught by some practitioner. Thus, one prescribes hydro- 
pathy, another homoeopathic remedies, a third mesmeric 
treatment, and so on. There are some cases, however, in which 
a peculiar sympathy would seem to exist, inasmuch as the 
sleeper, being shown certain remedies, of the name or nature 
of which he is ignorant, after feeling them, will often select 
that which is really most appropriate to the case. But I have 
not yet had sufficient opportunity of enquiring into this 
matter, which may, possibly, depend on sympathy with the 



■ SYMPATHETIC WARNINGS. 113 

person who exhibits the drugs to the sleeper, and who has 
probably an opinion as to that which is best adapted for 
the disease in question. 



It will be seen that thought-reading includes many very 
curious and beautiful phenomena, which have often been 
called clairvoyance, and which really are so, but are not the 
only phenomena of clairvoyance. They are sympathetic, 
indirect, or mediate clairvoyance, the perceptions being de- 
rived, not from the objects themselves, but from their images 
in the mind or thought of others. Some observers, having 
only met with this form of clairvoyance, have rashly con- 
cluded that there is no other ; but we shall see, that sym- 
pathy and thought-reading cannot explain all the pheno- 
mena of clairvoyance, and that we must admit another form 
of it. We shall find, that it may be possible to trace both 
forms to one common source, and that a kind of sympathy ; 
but in the mean time, there are two distinct classes of phe- 
nomena, which must not be confounded together. 

12. Sympathy is widely diffused, as a natural, sponta- 
neous occurrence. There are few people who have not ex- 
perienced something of it, and none who are not, by nature, 
susceptible to it, although their susceptibility may be masked 
under ordinary circumstances. 

How often does an inexplicable something warn certain 
persons that an absent and dearly beloved friend or relation 
is in danger, or dying ! This is an effect of sympathy. 
Every one has heard, in his own circle, of numerous in- 
stances of it. I am informed, for example, by a lady near- 
ly related to me, that her mother always had such a warn- 
ing at the time when any near and dear friend died. This 
occurred so often as to leave no doubt whatever of the fact. 
It happened, that this lady more than once made the voy- 
age to and from India, and that during the voyage she, on 
several occasions, said to her daughter and to others, " I 
feel certain that such a person is dead." On reaching port, 
these perceptions were always found to be true. 

It often happens, that this spontaneous sympathy goes so 
far as to produce the vision or appearance of the dying per- 
son. But this phenomenon belongs more properly to direct 
clairvoyance. 

10* 



114 NATURAL SYMPATHIES AND ANTIPATHIES. 

The remarkable case of Zschokke, the Swiss romance- 
writer, who possessed, at times, and quite spontaneously, 
the power of reading, in the minds of others, the whole of 
their past history, is a proof of the spontaneous occurrence 
of thought-reading, in reference to past events. 

13. Sympathy often produces a strong attraction between 
two persons, who see each other for the first time. Neither 
of them can explain it, but both feel it, and thus, love at first 
sight is no fancy, but a reality. It arises, in part, from a 
pleasing correspondence between the magnetic influences of 
the parties, and, when this is the case, it is as durable as 
strong. Nay, it is well known, that there are many persons 
who frequently quarrel after being long together, yet are 
quite wretched if separated, and infallibly come together, 
till a new quarrel again forces them asunder, again to feel 
miserable apart. 

14. Not only do such sympathies exist, but there are 
antipathies equally strong. Every one must have seen or 
felt the repulsion exercised on himself or others by certain 
individuals, which, even in spite of reason, often continues 
for life. But Antipathy is still more atrongly exhibited by 
persons in the magnetic sleep. In some instances, they can- 
not bear the approach of persons, who, in their ordinary state, 
produce no such effect upon them. 

Antipathy is frequently very strikingly seen in regard to 
animals or inanimate objects. Thus, many waking persons 
cannot endure the presence of a cat, others of a dog, or of 
a mouse, or of a spider, or of a toad. Many such persons 
will detect the presence of their bete d'antipathie or bete 
noire, when it has been carefully concealed from them, and 
if it be not removed, will be affected with sickness, fainting, 
or even convulsions. 

Again, many persons are thus painfully and disagreeably 
affected by inanimate objects, even by such as are pleasing, 
or indifferent, to people in general. Some cannot endure a 
rose, others an apple, pear, melon, or strawberry. Some 
object to sealing-wax, others to resin, some to salt, some to 
bread, many to less common articles of food, or to objects 
apparently the most innocent. All these antipathies are so 
strong, that the mere presence of the objects is sufficient, and 
cannot be reasoned aw T ay, nor overpowered by any volition. 
The smell of the objects is sometimes considered offensive, 



EXISTENCE OF A PECULIAR INFLUENCE. 115 

but frequently it is not regarded, it is the object itself, from 
which an influence felt by the victim of antipathy proceeds. 
Reichenbach has observed a connection between Antipathy 
and Animal Magnetism, inasmuch as those who have marked 
and strange antipathies are usually very sensitive to magnet- 
ic influence. A careful study of the phenomena would soon 
enable us to discover the laws which regulate them. 

We must conclude, therefore, that there resides in bodies, 
animate and inanimate, a certain force or influence which is 
felt by certain individuals, who, again, are more or less 
strongly, and in different ways, affected by it. That this 
force or influence is the same which, in a peculiar form, gives 
rise to the magnetic phenomena, to the magnetic sleep, and 
to magnetic sympathy, as well as antipathy, is in the highest 
degree probable. But I shall not here enter on theoretical 
questions ; I wish merely to point out and establish the facts. 



Having now briefly considered the subject of Sympathy, 
of sympathetic or mediate clairvoyance, or thought-read- 
ing, I shall, in my next Letter, go on to that of immediate 
or direct clairvoyance, as distinguished from that which has 
been described. 

I have already stated that this phenomenon, whatever 
may be its essential nature or true explanation, presents it- 
self to the student of Animal Magnetism, and very often 
does so, quite unexpectedly, while he is engaged in studying 
some other phenomenon. 

I believe, further, that it has often occurred, just as sym- 
pathy has done, as a spontaneous, natural fact, wdiich has 
been ascribed to Imagination, or accounted for by mere co- 
incidence. Whatever be the explanation — and, as I have 
before observed, to ascribe it to Imagination is not to ex- 
plain it, but rather to complicate the phenomenon by adding 
a link to the chain of causes — whatever be the explanation, 
the fact, whether occurring spontaneously in the ordinary 
state, or presenting itself in the magnetic sleep, is worthy 
of our most earnest and careful enquiry. 

And, as I have also before remarked, it is a mere fallacy 
to suppose that, if it could be referred to Sympathy or to 
Imagination, (using the latter word in its ordinary accepta- 
tion, but, of course, not implying that the foot is imaginary 



116 MAGNETIC VISION OF NEAR OBJECTS, 

or unreal,) it would be more easily understood or explained 
than before. 

Let us, therefore, calmly enquire into the facts, and hav- 
ing ascertained what we can about them, we shall then be 
in a better position for enquiring into their causes, and for 
giving such an explanation as may be found attainable. 

Many persons, on hearing of Animal Magnetism, or of a 
case in which its phenomena are said to occur, at once sup- 
pose that clairvoyance is meant ; and it is often difficult to 
persuade those who have not examined the matter for them- 
selves, that clairvoyance is merely one of a long series of 
phenomena, and that many cases occur, in which many 
beautiful phenomena may be observed, without any thing 
that can properly be called clairvoyance. Others, again, 
by clairvoyance, understand the foreseeing or prediction of 
future events, w T hich is said to occur in a still smaller num- 
ber of cases. But it must be borne in mind, that, even if 
clairvoyant prevision had never occurred, nor ever should 
occur, yet the existence of clairvoyance, that is, the direct 
perception, without the use of the eyes, of absent or distant 
objects, may be perfectly true. 

To this point, therefore, I shall proceed in the next 
Letter. 



LETTER VII. 

Clairvoyance, or what I have defined as direct or imme- 
diate clairvoyance, or the direct and immediate perception 
of absent or distant objects, without the use of the eyes, 
has been noticed by the earliest authors on Animal Magnet- 
ism in modern times. But I shall not here dvfell on its 
history ; I shall proceed at once to describe it, in the vari- 
ous forms in which it occurs, as described by those who 
have seen it, and as I have had opportunities of observing 
it. 

1. The first form in which the power of clairvoyance, or 
direct perception, called, by the sleeper, seeing, but without 
the use of the external eye, occurs, is usually that of no- 



WITHOUT THE USE OF THE EYES. 117 

ticing the hand of the operator, while the eyes are firmly 
closed. This is often observed in the very beginning, when 
the magnetic sleep is first induced, and is commonly pointed 
out by the sleeper, who, without questions being asked, calls 
out, that he sees the hand, and very frequently describes 
light as flowing from the tips of the fingers. He sees the 
hand either when held before his firmly closed eyes, or, in 
many cases, when held to the side of his head, or above it, 
or behind it ; and it is quite easy to assure ourselves that 
he does not, and cannot, use his eyes, without the clumsy 
expedient of blindfolding him, which, to judge by the mani- 
pulations sometimes resorted to, would seem to be a very 
difficult matter, and often causes great annoyance and loss 
of power to the clairvoyant. The truth is, nature adopts a 
far more effectual, and indeed a double process of blindfold- 
ing ; since, as in those cases of spontaneous sleep-walking 
in which the eyes are open, the pupil is usually found to be 
fixed, and insensible to light, when by forcing open the eye- 
lids, we can see it ; while, in a large proportion of cases, 
the pupil is not only fixed and insensible, but is also turned 
upwards, so that it cannot be seen at all, when the eyelids 
are forcibly opened. In addition to all this, we can place 
the hand above or behind the head, positions in which the 
most sensitive and moveable eye cannot possibly see any 
thing. 

The sleeper makes, at first, great efforts to look at the 
hand, and instinctively exhibits the pantomime of intent 
looking, but with closed eyes. He has the appearance of 
looking (if his eyes were open) before him, in all cases, even 
when the hand is above or behind. It is evidently the 
" mind's eye,' 5 the internal vision, which is strained to catch 
the image of the hand; and it is often described, especially 
at first, as dim, enveloped in a thick mist, or faintly visible. 
By degrees the mist clears off, that is, when a deeper or 
higher stage of sleep is reached, and the hand is seen, with- 
out an effort, plain and distinct, in its natural color. At 
first, it is often grey, or devoid of color. 

2. When the sleeper has reached a certain stage, he will 
often notice the objects which happen to be placed behind 
him ) and in such positions that, were his eyes open, he could 
not see them without turning round ; and he will describe 
them, without ceasing for a moment to look straight for- 



118 VISION OF NEAR OBJECTS, 

ward, or downward, towards his knees, as he very often 
does, his eyes being firmly closed. If anything be done, 
however quietly, in any part of the room, he will, if not 
absorbed in internal contemplation, detect it. This fact, as 
well as those concerning the hand of the operator, or of others, 
I have very often seen. They are of daily occurrence. 

Now we have here, distinctly, the fact of perception, in 
the shape of vision, without the use of the external organs 
of vision. This is the essential fact, and it is as difficult to 
understand or explain, as any other form of clairvoyance 
whatever. The question is, by what means is the image of 
the object conveyed to the internal organ of vision, and to 
the sensorium ? That the brain is vitally concerned in this 
species of vision, no one can doubt ; but, by what kind of 
influence or emanation is it affected ? Common vision, by 
ordinary light, it cannot be, for the eyes are closed, and the 
rays from the object do not, in most cases, fall even on the 
closed eyelids, while, as before stated, the pupil is, or may 
be insensible to light. 

We must, therefore, admit the existence of some other 
force or influence, exerted by bodies, and capable of reach- 
ing the brain without passing through the eye. When the 
sleeper finds his vision not clear, or misty, as he calls it, he 
will very often, in order to see better an object which is 
shown to him, apply it to his forehead, to the coronal region, 
or, in some rare cases to the occiput, and forthwith perceive 
it more distinctly. It would appear, then, that this influ- 
ence, like heat, can traverse the cranium and its membranes, 
and reach the brain. And it is probable that, when the 
sleeper perceives objects not in contact with his head, their 
emanations still fall on, and pass through, his cranium. 

Some who admit, as all who examine the matter for them- 
selves must do, that the eyes are not used, have endeavored 
to account for this kind of perception by assuming an ex- 
treme degree of acuteness of all the other senses; and re- 
fer to the case of the blind, who, they tell us, perceive and 
avoid objects by means of an extreme degree of acuteness 
of hearing, touch, and smell. They point also to sleep- 
walkers, who are supposed to be warned of the presence or 
proximity of solid bodies by the action of these on the air, 
perceived by their sense of touch, morbidly acute as it is said 
to be. 



WITHOUT THE USE OF THE EYES. 119 

But the latter is not only an assumption, but a complete 
petitio principii ; since it is much more probable, and at all 
events possible, that sleep-walkers are awake to impressions 
which are so far new, that they are not usually noticed in 
the waking state ; and the assumed acuteness of touch has 
never been proved. As to hearing, it is enough to say, that 
clairvoyants are far more frequently deaf to the loudest 
sounds, save the voice of the operator, or of those with 
whom they sympathise, than they are possessed of extreme 
acuteness of hearing. And in regard to smell, not only 
have the objects frequently no smell, but their color, form, 
transparency, &c, as well as, in most cases, luminous ema- 
nations from them, are minutely described; matters which 
are surely out of the province of the olfactory nerves ; or, 
at least, if they have come within it, this amounts to a 
transference of a sense, one of the most striking phenomena 
of Animal Magnetism. 

As to the precise nature of the influence, or force, or 
emanation, by which this kind of interior visual perception 
is caused, this is not the place for the discussion of that 
question. But I may here point to the very frequent, in 
some cases universal, occurrence of luminous emanations 
from all objects thus seen by the sleeper, nay, often seen 
by him while awake, (as in the case of the light from the 
tips of the fingers of the operator, or of other parties pre- 
sent,) first, as indicating that an emanation of some kind, 
whether it be called a force, a motion among the particles 
of air, or of a supposed ether, or a fluid, as we speak, 
vaguely, of the electric or magnetic fluids, really does pro- 
ceed from bodies in general ; and, secondly, as confirming 
the results of the researches of Baron von Reichenbach, who 
has proved, independently of all experiments in the mag- 
netic sleep, the existence of a peculiar influence (force, fluid, 
or imponderable agent,) in all forms of matter, and pervad- 
ing the universe, the action of which is perceived, in various 
forms, by a large proportion of mankind, and always very 
distinctly by spontaneous somnambulists. It is in this di- 
rection, that we shall most probably find the explanation so 
eagerly sought after. 

When we have seen, in several independent cases, these 
first manifestations of the power of clairvoyance, which 
embrace the essential parts of the phenomenon, and compel 
us to admit some new mode of access to the interior vision,, 



120 VISION THROUGH OPAQUE BODIES. 

we are no longer astounded at the further manifestations of 
the same power. We feel, that he who can see an object 
behind him, while his eyes are closed, and who sees it best 
when applied to his head, has some means of perceiving 
objects, which is either not possessed in the ordinary wak- 
ing state, or, if possessed, is not attended to, but its impres- 
sions are overpowered by the stronger impressions of the 
ordinary senses. We easily conceive that, in highly sus- 
ceptible cases, distance may be a matter of no moment ; that 
our new force or influence may, like light, traverse the uni- 
verse without difficulty, while, like heat, it may be able to 
penetrate through all objects, even through walls of brick 
or stone. And such, precisely, is the character of Baron 
von Reichenbach's Odyle, save that it moves with less 
volocity than light, and passes through solid bodies much 
more easily than heat, as we shall explain hereafter. 

3. The next observation is, that the clairvoyant can often 
perceive objects, which are wrapped up in paper, or enclosed 
in boxes or other opaque receptacles. Thus, I have seen 
objects described, as to form, color, surface, markings, down 
to minute flaws and chipped edges, when enclosed in paper, 
cotton, pasteboard boxes, wooden boxes, boxes of papier 
mache, and of metal. I have further known letters minute- 
ly described, the address, post marks, seal, and even the 
contents, read off when the letters were enclosed in thick 
envelopes or boxes. No fact is better attested than this ; 
Major Buckley, who would seem to possess, in an unusual 
degree, the power of producing in his subjects this peculiar 
form of clairvoyance, has brought, I believe, upwards of 140 
persons, many of them of high character and education, and 
89 of these even in the conscious state, to the point of read- 
ing, with almost invariable accuracy, although w T ith occa- 
sional mistakes, printed mottoes, enclosed in boxes or in 
nutshells. He causes some friends, who wish to see and test 
the fact, to purchase a number of these nuts, in different 
shops, and to seal them up in a bag, from whence they are 
taken by the clairvoyant by chance, read, noted, and 
opened. It is physically impossible for any of the parties 
concerned to know T the contents of any one nut ; at the 
utmost, a clairvoyant, who has had much practice, may, 
after reading the first few words, guess the remainder of a 
motto previously deciphered. But out of a certain number, 
the majority, sometimes all, have been found new, and 



MAJOR BUCKLEY'S CASES. 12- 

besides, new clairvoyants constantly succeed in this well- 
devised experiment. 

In regard to this particular form of clairvoyance, I would 
observe, first ; that only a certain proportion of sleepers 
possess this power, so that any one may very probably not 
have it. Secondly ; that the same clairvoyant may succeed 
at one time, and fail at another, from causes explained in 
the first section. Thirdly ; that it occurs more frequently 
in the experience of some magnetisers than in that of others. 
Major Buckley, for example, is very successful, while there 
are some magnetisers who never produce it at all, but who 
call forth, perhaps, other equally wonderful phenomena. 
No one, therefore, is entitled to deny the fact, because he 
does not meet with it in his own cases, or in any given case, 
or on any one given occasion. 

I have already mentioned that there are some clairvoyants 
who cannot thus read or see, unless some one be present 
who knows that which is to be read and seen, and that in 
these cases, it is performed by sympathetic clairvoyance, or 
thought-reading. I would here add, that it would appear 
that some clairvoyants can thus read at one time directly, 
at another only sympathetically, and at a third, perhaps 
not at all. This is an additional reason, why a failure, or 
even a few failures, do not entitle us to reject the fact, save 
as a speciality in the individual cases in which the failure 
occurs. 

I do not think it necessary to say more than I have al- 
ready said on the subject of attempted imposture in such 
cases. Nothing is easier than to render all deceit impossi- 
ble ; and I regard Major Buckley's method as entirely 
satisfactory ; but we must never forget that even a genuine 
and good clairvoyant, if exposed to the close proximity and 
the involuntary magnetic influence of a vigorous person, or 
of several such persons, more vigorous, perhaps, than his 
magnetiser, penetrated with the conviction that deceit is 
practised by him, and eagerly bent on detecting it, may 
easily be deprived of all, or the greater part of his power. 

4. Proceeding onwards, we next find our sleeper perceiv- 
ing objects in the next room, or in that overhead, or in that 
below. This is a frequent phenomenon, requiring no special 
preparation, and usually brought to light by the sleeper, of 
his own accord, remarking what takes place there. It can- 
11 



1/22 VISION AT A DISTANCE. 

not be referred to' ordinary sympathy with the operator, 
for the latter often does not know the room described ; and 
when he does, changes or events in it, taking place at the 
moment, and unknown to the operator, are noticed. I have 
myself seen it frequently. 

* It often happens, that w T hen the operator knows the room 
described, he and the clairvoyant will dispute about some 
trifling matter, in which he declares the clairvoyant to be 
wrong, just as I have explained under the head of sympathy. 
But it also frequently occurs, that the clairvoyant proves 
to be right, some change having been made since the ques- 
tioner last saw it, or even during the experiment. It is 
needless to quote cases, for this is one of the very commonest 
phenomena, and there is none which more forcibly impresses 
us with the fact, that the clairvoyant really sees that which 
he describes. But again it must be borne in mind, that 
only some clairvoyants exhibit this power, and that those 
who possess it, do not possess it at all times, nor, when 
they do, at all times in the same degree. 

5. The next step is, that the sleeper can see into another 
house, as it were, mentally, and describe it in every part, 
just as he does in the case of the house in which he is. 
This I have often seen, and have had opportunities of satis- 
fying myself, that his vision, at least in some cases, is not 
determined by sympathy with the operator's mind. 

In the first place, his description is that of a person seeing 
and examining, for the first time, what he describes. He 
attends to the minutest details of the objects he looks at, 
but often omits, till his attention is called to them, objects 
on which the mind of the operator is dwelling at the time. 
Secondly, he observes the persons who may be in the room, 
and what they are doing, the whole of which may be, and 
often is, unknown to his questioner, but is afterwards ascer- 
tained to be correct. Thus, in one case which I exam- 
ined, the clairvoyant found my house, which he had never 
seen nor heard of, and the situation of which he was not told. 
He first noticed the number of steps at the door, (which I 
could only have guessed at,) correctly ; he then entered, 
described the lobby-table and the piece of furniture beyond 
it, on which coats and hats are hung ; but omitted to notice, 
till I urged him to look, a pillar in the middle of the lobby. 
He then described the situation, direction, and shape of the 



VISION AT A DISTANCE. 123 

stair, but stopped to scrutinize the stair-carpet and " queer 
brass fenders' (carpet rods) which were new to him, but of 
which I never thought for a moment ; then entered the 
drawing-room, minutely and accurately described the furni- 
ture and ornaments, as far as time was given him to do so ; 
noticed various striking peculiarities ; saw, at one time, a 
man sitting in the room, (the man-servant at the hour of 
prayers,) and, at a later time, only a lady, in a particular 
arm-chair, engaged in reading a new book, (which turned 
out quite correct.) I give this as a recent specimen of a 
fact often observed. 

In another recent case, a lady, who became clairvoyant 
at the first sitting, having been magnetised by Mr. Lewis, 
described the same house, and also saw, in another room, a 
certain lady and gentleman, quite unknown to her, as was 
the house also ; the lady, in a particular dress and head- 
dress, sitting on a sofa with other persons, the gentleman 
standing at a large round table, on which he leaned his hand ; 
on the little finger of the hand was a ring, and he was con- 
versing with a short dark-haired gentleman. All of which 
was correct at that moment, save that she called the hand 
on which she saw T the ring the right, instead of the left. 
This is a frequent, but by no means an uniform blunder of 
clairvoyants. Some of them always put right for left, south 
for north, east for west, and, in the sleep, adhere immoveably 
to this error, which is an additional proof that they do not, 
in those cases, sympathise with the mind of the operator, 
who of course knows the truth. Thus, in a third clairvoy- 
ant, magnetised by myself, I was at first much puzzled by 
his apparent blunders of this kind ; but on comparing my 
notes, and asking a few questions, I discovered that the 
error, in his case; was invariable. He told me, for example, 
that the houses in Prince's Street, w T hich he saw, looked 
north ; that the Castle was to the north of Prince's Street ; 
that the fire-place in my draw T ing-room was on the east, and 
the door on the w T est side, whereas the former is on the 
west, the latter on the east, side of the room; and he dis- 
dainfully rejected all suggestions to the contrary, declaring 
that he saw it quite plain, and that I must surely be making 
a fool of him. I cannot pretend to explain this, which, as 
I have said, is only an occasional, although, I am told by 
experienced magnetisers, a tolerably frequent phenomenon. 



124 VISION AT A DISTANCE, 

6. The next fact is, that the sleeper, at the request of the 
operator, and frequently of his own accord, visits distant 
places and countries, and describes them, as well as the 
persons in them. This may, as I have already said, be 
done, in some cases, by sympathy, but there are many cases 
in which ordinary sympathy will not explain it. 

Thus, the clairvoyant will often see and describe accu- 
rately, as is subsequently ascertained, places, objects, and 
people, totally unknown to the operator, or to any one pre- 
sent ; and he will likewise, in describing such as are known 
to the operator, notice details and changes which could not 
be known to him. 

The clairvoyant appears, as it were, mentally to go to the 
place named. He often finds himself, first, in no place, but 
floating, as it were, on air, or in space, and in a very short 
time exclaims, " Now, I am there. " The place named is 
the first, as a general rule, that presents itself to him. But 
whether it be so, or whether he see, first, some other place, 
a certain internal feeling tells him when he is right. If it 
be a distant town, and no house be specified to him, he 
will either see a general panoramic view of it, as from a 
neighboring hill, or from a height in the air, and describe 
this as he would a map or bird's-eye view, or he will find 
himself in some street, place, square, or promenade, which, 
although not specified to him, is at once recognised from his 
account of it. He sees and describes the trees, roads, 
streets, houses, churches, fountains, and walks, and the 
people moving in them, and his expressions of delight and 
surprise are unceasing. If sent thither, to use his almost 
invariable phrase, a second or a third time,. the sleeper will 
see the same objects, but remarks the change on the living 
part of the picture. 

For example, Mr. D., a clairvoyant, magnetised by my- 
self, w T hen in an early and imperfect stage of lucidity, was 
asked by me to go to Aix-la-Chapelle, he never having left 
Scotland. He agreed, and after a very short, apparently 
an aerial voyage, said he was there. He w T as in a beautiful 
walk, bordered with trees, saw green turf, and the walk 
stretched on both sides, till lost, at either end, by a turn- 
ing, not sharp, but gradual. This was evidently the boule- 
vard. Another time, I specified the Friedrich Wilhelm- 
splats, where he saw houses on one side, and at both ends, 



VISION AT A DISTANCE. 125 

some much higher than others, the place itself of irregular 
oblong form, wider at one end than the other, and partly 
shrouded in a mist, of which he long complained ; on the 
other side a long building, not a house. In the middle, a 
road, with small trees, having no branches till the stem rose 
rather higher than a man, and then a number, but the top 
obscured by mist. Another time, he saw the door of 
Nuellen's Hotel, large enough, he thought, to allow a car- 
riage to enter, but not more, if that ; people were going in 
and out ; and a man stood at the door, with a white neck- 
cloth and vest, and no hat ; as he thought, a waiter. In 
the saloon, he saw tables, all brown, no one there. Another 
time, some tables were white, and people sat at them eat- 
ing, while others moved about. According to the hours of 
experiment, he was most likely right both times, although 
their dinner hour differs so much from ours. One day, I 
sent him to Cologne. There he noticed, from a bird's-eye 
position, a large building, seen rather misty, but much 
higher than the houses. He got into a street near it, and 
described its long pointed windows, showing with his fingers 
their form, and its buttresses, which he described, but could 
not name. In the street, he saw people, indistinctly, 
moving; but he saw, pretty clearly, one " old boy,' 5 as he 
called him, fat and comfortable, standing in his shop-door, 
and idling. He had no hat, and wore an apron. Mr. D. 
was much surprised, without any question being asked, at 
the fact that about half of the men he saw, both in Aix 
and Cologne, wore beards, and he described different 
fashions of beards and moustaches. One time, when I sent 
him to Bonn, he gave a beautiful account of the view from 
the hills to the west of it, of the town, and the Rhine, 
stretching out and winding through the plain, with the 
rising grounds on the other side, such as the Ennertz. But 
it jvas remarkable that he stoutly maintained, that the hill 
on which he stood was to the east of the town, the town to 
the east of the Rhine, between the hill and the river, and 
the Rhine running towards the south ; whereas I knew 
every one of these directions to be reversed. 

The same subject has often spontaneously visited other 
places, unknown to me, but has given such minute and 
graphic accounts of the localities, the people, houses, dress, 
occupations, and topography of these places, that I should 

11* 



126 VISION AT A DISTANCE. 

recognise them at once, were I to see them. I intend to 
give, in Part II., some instances of this. 

It often happens, that a clairvoyant, who can see and de- 
scribe very well all that is in the same room, or the next 
room, or even in the same house, cannot thus travel to a 
distance, without passing into a new stage. This generally 
occurs spontaneously, but may sometimes be effected by 
passes, or by the will of the operator. 

The new or travelling stage, in such cases, is marked by 
peculiar characters. Thus, in one very fine case, which I 
had the opportunity of studying, the clairvoyante, in her 
first lucid state, could tell all that passed behind her, or in 
the next room, and could, by contact, perceive, and accu- 
rately describe, the state of body of other persons. She 
could hear, and she very readily answered, every question 
put to her by any one present, but could not go to a distant 
place. Yet, as I saw, she would often spontaneously pass 
from that state or stage into another, in which she was deaf 
to all sounds, even to the voice of her magnetiser, unless he 
spoke with his mouth touching the tips of the fingers of her 
right hand. Any one else might also converse with her in 
this way, but when first addressed, she invariably started. 
And now, not only could she go to a distance, and see very 
plainly what passed, but she was already in some distant 
place, and much occupied with it. She called this going 
away, or, when it was done by her magnetiser, being taken 
away, and when tired, would ask him to bring her back, 
which he did by some trifling manipulations. She then re- 
membered (in her first state, to which she came back,) what 
she had seen on her travels. I shall have to return to this 
case hereafter, and some of her visions will also be given in 
Part II., in order not to interrupt the current of the de- 
scription of the phenomena. I shall designate her as E. 

7. Allied to the preceding manifestation, is that of seeing 
any person asked for, by the operator or others. The 
sleeper, in certain stages, sees the person asked for, not in 
any locality, but, like himself, floating in air, or in space. 
He describes the figure, face, hair, complexion, eyes, gesture, 
dress, &c. with great accuracy, and that when the operator 
has never seen the individual described. In other stages, 
the sleeper sees the person in his house, or in the street, or 
in a road or walk, or at his occupation, whatever that may be. 



SYMPATHY AND CLAIRVOYANCE. 127 

It may happen, that he is seen, either as he is at the moment 
or =as he has been at some former period. The clairvoyant 
generally expresses a decided liking or dislike for the person 
seen. If the person be at a great distance, and his actual 
locality not known to the enquirer, it may often be ascer- 
tained by the clairvoyant's description ; and it is a very 
general remark, that clairvoyants have a great difficulty in 
naming persons or places known to them, and are often very 
averse to doing so, while they willingly describe them, and 
of course, in regard to unknown persons, places, and objects, 
we must be confined to description alone. 

Experiments of this kind are among the most beautiful 
and interesting in Animal Magnetism. They may be varied 
in a thousand ways, and admit, very frequently, of the 
easiest and most complete verification. Some instances will 
be given in Part II. 

8. Some clairvoyants possess the power of sympathizing 
with the absent or unknown persons seen and described by 
them, so as to read their thoughts, to know their past actions, 
at least in part, and even to perceive their intentions. E. 
often exhibits this power, and I shall have occasion to men- 
tion several instances of it, both in some of the subsequent 
sections, and in Part II. 

9. The powers mentioned in the two preceding sections, 
are not only exercised when the person asked for is named 
by the operator or other enquirer, but also, when some ob- 
ject, formerly in contact with the person, such as a ring, 
a piece of dress, a lock of hair, or even a letter, or piece of 
writing without the name, all information being withheld. 
This power is very highly developed in E., and I have very 
frequently tested it. A lock of hair, or the hand-writing of 
the person, the more recent the better, seem to answer best, 
and are, at least, the most convenient means for doing so. 
I shall give several instances in Part II., and I shall here 
describe her mode of proceeding, and the results, in a 
general form. She crushes the letter or envelope, or hair, 
in her hands, and if the person do not at once appear, she 
will often lay it on her head, on the upper part or coronal 
surface, and this she calls putting it straight before her 
eyes, which are closed. She then describes the person, and 
his occupation, which is often, not always, that of the mo- 
ment of the experiment, sometimes that of the tirpe when 



128 SYMPATHY AND CLAIRVOYANCE 

the letter was written, or of some former time. This must 
be attended to, or else E. may be supposed to fail, when, in 
truth, she succeeds perfectly ; and she is one of those who 
cannot at all times distinguish the past from the present, 
in the images which present themselves, although she is 
often quite clear on this point. E. will often trace the his- 
tory of the person for a considerable period, down to the 
present moment. This she did, for example, in the case of 
Mr. Willey, and of another gentleman who had gone from 
Liverpool to California, and were then in San Francisco, 
most correctly, as attested by Mr. Willey, publicly, on his 
return to England. She has often done the same thing in 
other cases. (See Part II.) E. sympathizes to a remark- 
able extent with persons thus seen, so as to read their 
thoughts. But what is most remarkable, is this, that she 
holds conversations with them, asking questions, and re- 
ceiving (of course inaudible) answers, as appears from her 
remarks, which are chiefly addressed, in an easy, familiar 
tone, to the individuals. She will often scold them, for ex- 
ample, because they have not written to their friends, and 
will listen to, and admit or reject their excuses. She 
maintains that she speaks to them, and that she can suggest 
thoughts or even dreams to their minds. Nay, she told one 
person, seen from his hand-writing, that at a certain pe- 
riod, when confined to bed from illness, he had had a vision 
of his wife coming to see him. This she spoke of, as if he 
had just informed her of it ; and it appeared, subsequently, 
that he had such a vision as she described. She added nu- 
merous other details, for which I refer to Part II. She 
takes likings to some of her new acquaintances thus formed, 
and dislikings to others, and is much annoyed, and ren- 
dered angry, by anything mean or bad. In one case, where 
she traced a stolen watch, and described the thief, who was 
not habitually such, she spoke to the thief of that thief's 
feelings, fears, and intentions, and scolded her severely for 
her theft and hypocrisy, stating that she was afraid of what 
she had done, and intended to return the watch, and say 
that she had found it. "But you took it ! you know you 
did !" said she with angry energy. Before the account of 
this sitting reached the proprietor of the watch, it had been 
returned by the person indicated, who said she had found 
it. (See Part II.) E. has frequently discovered lost and 



IN REOARD TO ABSENT PERSONS. 129 

stolen property, when put in communication with it, or with 
its proprietor. She has also frequently discovered missing 
papers of value in the same way. Another clairvoyante 
lately recovered fifteen bales of cotton, which had been 
stolen from a ship in New Orleans, and traced it thence in 
another ship to Havre, where it was found ; and the fact is 
attested by the captain of the former vessel, who thus es- 
caped the loss of a large sum of money. I have myself 
tested E. with various hand-writings and other objects, and 
found her power to be most remarkable. For some details, 
see Part II. 

10. Another very striking fact is, that some clairvoyants 
will accurately indicate the time of the places they thus 
mentally visit. E., who is one of these, does this with great 
accuracy. It is sometimes said by the clairvoyant to be 
done by observing the appearance and position of the sun, 
and is probably a guess, more or less accurate, as in the 
case of many of us in the ordinary state. But E. declares 
that she does it by reading the clocks of a place, or the 
watch of the individual seen by her. And it is found -that 
she will give, for the same place, at any hour of the 
day, invariably the same difference of time, so that, where 
both watches are correct, the difference of longitude may 
be ascertained. For some very well-devised and satisfac- 
tory experiments, made with her at the request of my 
honored friend, Sir W. C. Trevelyan, on this point, I again 
refer to Part II. 

11. Not only do clairvoyants see persons asked for, and 
such as are not asked for, but whose hair, writing, &c. are 
put into their hands, but they also see, in the same ways, 
persons who are no longer alive. Mr. D. has described to 
me, possibly by thought-reading, persons long dead, of 
whose death, and even of whose existence, he was not aware, 
when I have asked for" them by name. They usually ap- 
peared to him as if alive, or, as he expressed it, like us; 
while he saw his own brother, dead five years, not like us, but 
quite different. E. has the same power of seeing dead peo- 
ple, but she also will not speak of them as dead ; they are 
shelled. In one or two very curious experiments, she was, 
spontaneously, or by some obscure inducement, while on her 
way to visit, mentally, a lady in a distant town, led to enter 



130 VISIONS OF DEAD PERSONS, ETC. 

another house, where she saw a lady, who turned out to be 
shelled, and rather frightened her at first, till she found that 
out. She is never frightened, nor are clairvoyants in gene- 
ral, by seeing those who are dead. They rather like to see 
them. Mr. D. delights in contemplating his dead brother, 
although he is moved and saddened at the sight. E. also likes 
to see shelled persons. Both instinctively feel a difference, 
but never use the word death or dead, and will use the most 
ingenious circumlocutions to avoid it, till they hit on some 
peculiar term. 

12. Clairvoyants can only see, not only dead persons, 
but those of former ages, and the events in which they are 
concerned. I have heard of some very striking instances 
of this, in reference to historical personages, w T hich I may 
afterwards mention, and in which, all that could be verified 
was found to be correct. One clairvoyant, for example, 
traced the history of a ring for about 300 years, and was 
found to be accurate for 70 or 80 years back or more. The 
shelled lady, seen by E., as mentioned in the preceding 
paragraph, was in the costume, and the room had the fur- 
niture, of 280 to 300 years ago. She saw various events 
connected with this shelled lady, and when asked what she 
had died of, started back in surprise, and w T ith a very sig- 
nificant gesture, said, that she died of having her head cut 
off. See Part II. I have some reason to think, that, by 
means of very lucid clairvoyants, many obscure points in 
history might be cleared up, and that, by the discovery of 
documentary evidence. 

This power of seeing the past is truly remarkable, and 
deeply interesting. It would appear to indicate, that w r hat 
has once existed, or happened, leaves a trace of some kind, 
perceptible to the inner vision and soul of man, when no 
longer obscured or overpowered by the coarser impressions 
conveyed to the sensorium by the external senses. This 
idea, which has often been entertained by philosophers and 
thinkers, we shall again refer to, in its proper place. 

13. Another power, exhibited by the clairvoyant, is that 
of seeing the structure and interior of his own frame. The 
most eloquent descriptions ever given of the wonders of the 
human body, never produced half the effects on the mind 
which is caused by the simple, but graphic words of the 
clairvoyant, who is perhaps altogether ignorant of anatomy, 



INTRO VISION. 131 

and yet sees, in all their beauty and marvellous perfection, 
the muscles, vessels, bones, nerves, glands, brain, lungs, and 
other viscera, and describes the minutest ramifications of nerves 
and vessels, with an accuracy surpassing that of the most skil- 
ful anatomist. He will trace any vessel or nerve in its most 
complex distribution ; the whole ? to him, is transparent, 
bathed in delicate light, and full of life and motion. Some, 
at first, are terrified on seeing these wonders, but soon learn 
to admire and delight in them. But it is only a certain 
proportion of clairvoyants who pass into that particular 
stage, and as experiments are most frequently made on the 
uneducated, or half educated, they are often at a loss for 
words to describe what they see. I cannot doubt that, 
when intelligent medical men shall be themselves rendered 
clairvoyant, some useful information will be derived from 
the exercise of this power. 

It is easy to understand, that when the sleeper sees 
his frame in this perfect way, he can detect disorder 
and disorganisation in it. This, indeed, he very readily 
does, and his diagnosis is often confirmed by that of 
the physician who attends him when he is suffering from 
illness. 

14. The clairvoyant, in some cases, possesses the same 
power in reference to the bodies of those en rapport with 
him. He describes their structure, and its derangements; 
and I have good reason to believe, that in some instances, 
when the disease is of an obscure nature, his diagnosis has 
proved, and has been acknowledged to be, correct. 

The clairvoyant who possesses this power, can often ex- 
ercise it at a distance, with the help of the hair or of the 
hand-writing. I have seen it done both ways, and repeat- 
edly with very great minuteness and accuracy. The obser- 
vations of the clairvoyant have always corresponded to the 
opinion of the physician who knew and treated the case, 
but have often gone further, and in the subsequent opinion 
of the physician, correctly, in the cases I have studied. 

I have already, in treating of sympathy, alluded to this, 
and stated my opinion, that the treatment recommended by 
the clairvoyant is almost always a reflection of that which 
he has himself experienced, or learned from some medical 
man. It has generally, in each prescribing clairvoyant, 
one unchanging character. It is homoeopathic, or hydro- 



132 CLAIRVOYANT PREVISION. 

pathic, or mesmeric, &c, &c. But some clairvoyants do 
appear to have an instinctive power of selecting unknown 
remedies, although I have had no opportunities of seeing 
this done. 

It is much to be regretted, that some persons, not at all 
qualified for the task, use genuine or possibly spurious clair- 
voyants, who are made to examine and prescribe, for the 
object, exclusively, of pecuniary profit to their employers. 
This ought to be discouraged; but on the other hand, where 
a well qualified medical man, of good character, is fortunate 
enough to meet with a good clairvoyant, he does rightly in 
availing himself of the power, to assist his diagnosis. I 
rejoice to know that this is done, in more than one instance, 
by medical gentlemen of character and standing. 

I shall here close this Letter, and, in the next, I shall go 
on to some other phenomena, connected with the subject of 
direct or true clairvoyance. 



LETTER VIII. 

We now come to a part of the subject which, to some, is 
the most interesting; nay, which, in some minds, swallows 
up all the rest, so that when Animal Magnetism, or Mes- 
merism, but especially Clairvoyance, is spoken of, this phe- 
nomenon, namely, Clairvoyant Prevision, or the power of 
predicting future events, is alone understood. 

I would, in the first place, remark, that whether Prevision 
exist or not, we have now what I consider sufficient evidence 
that clairvoyants do possess the powqr of seeing contem- 
porary or present events, as well as that of seeing past 
events. And even if it should turn out, that all alleged 
cases of prevision are founded on some fallacy, this would 
not affect these other phenomena, which must rest on their 
own evidence. I premise this, because I have often heard 
the alleged impossibility of prevision, or its absence on a 
particular case, employed as an argument, or rather a proof, 
against the possibility of clairvoyant vision, introvision, and 



DURATION OF SLEEP PREDICTED. 133 

retrovision. Now, I cannot consent that these should be, 
in any way, made to depend on the other. 

But, on the other hand, these things, vision, introvision, 
and retrovision, being, as I think, established as facts, 
though not explained or understood as occurring under any 
known laws, furnish undoubtedly an additional argument for 
the possibility of prevision. If, in some way, to us at pre- 
sent unaccountable, present and past events are presented 
to the mind's eye, may not future events be also thus per- 
ceptible ? If past occurrences leave a trace behind them, 
may not " coming events cast a shadow before?" If the 
latter is inconceivable, the former, had we not seen them, 
would be equally so, and, whether conceivable or not, the 
one is as easy, or rather as difficult, if not impossible, to 
explain as the other. 

1. We have already seen that many somnambulists can 
predict, to the second, how long they have to sleep ; and 
they will do so, however often they may be asked, at differ- 
ent intervals of the same sleep, and always name the same 
minute. I do not mean to say that they are never wrong, 
for some known interferences may derange the phenomena, 
while some unknown ones seem also, at times, to operate. 
But in those who possess the power, failure is the exception. 
Thus, in a set of observations I made on this point in one 
case, where this power was early developed, out of thirty- 
five sittings, the time of waking was precisely predicted in 
thirty-one, in many of these three or four times, at different 
intervals ; in all, more than once. Of the remaining four, 
in two the time was not asked at all ; in the other two, dis- 
turbance occurred, as I shall explain below. 

The form of prediction varies. Some subjects name the 
hour and minute, usually by the watch of the operator, 
without, however, its being shown to them; or by some 
clock, to which they are accustomed to refer. They say, 
for example, "I shall sleep till eight," or, "I shall wake at 
thirty-four minutes past nine," &c. Others, among whom 
is the person referred to in the preceding paragraph, name 
the number of hours or minutes they have to sleep. That 
person, for example, would say, "I have fifty-three minutes 
to sleep;" (I never caused him to sleep more than an hour 
in these trials;) and, if I asked again, after twenty-one 
minutes by my watch, he would say, after a moment's at- 
12 



134 DURATION OF THE SLEEP 

tention, "I have still thirty-two minutes to sleep." When 
I again enquired, after an interval of fourteen and a half 
minutes, he said, "I have to sleep eighteen minutes, no! 
only seventeen and a half," and so on. 

It would appear that these two modes of fixing the time 
of waking depend on the form of that which presents itself 
to the interior vision. The former class see the hour on 
some imagined clock or watch, or possibly look by their 
lucidity at the house clock, or at the operator's watch. I 
know that some have said that they saw a watch or time- 
piece of some kind before them when asked the question, 
and that some internal, inexplicable feeling showed them 
the point at w T hich the hands would be at the moment of 
their awaking. The individual above referred to, on the 
other hand, spontaneously told me of, and most minutely 
described, a sort of apparatus that enabled him to answer 
the question. He saw a kind of scale, or measuring rod, 
which accompanied him, and seemed to pass before his eyes, 
moving from left to right, slowly, so that while certain 
marks or divisions, at one time to the left of his eye, when 
they seemed to advance out of a dark cloud or mist, moved 
towards his eye, others came into view on that part of the 
rod formerly shrouded from his sight. On the right, the 
portion of rod (the ends of which he never saw) which had 
passed his eye, at a certain distance entered a similar cloud. 
He was very intelligent, and compared it to an endless re- 
volving tape, of which only a small portion, and that 
straight, was at any one time visible to him, extending to 
a variable distance on each side of his eye, and constantly 
advancing. It had marks or divisions, representing minutes, 
and at every ten there was either a longer mark, or the 
mark-was broader, so that he could instantly distinguish it ; 
but he said this was not necessary. Indeed, I think he 
occasionally spoke as if the marks were all alike, and at all 
events he counted them by an instinctive and instantaneous 
process. He did not always notice this scale, that is, 
attend to it, while looking at other objects ; but he had a 
sense of its constant presence, even when not attending to 
it. When asked how long he had to sleep, he had only to 
look, and there it was. There were no numbers on the 
scale, but he could always see as far as was required (in his 
case never more than sixty minutes or degrees of the scale, 



PREDICTED BY CLAIRVOYANTS. 135 

to the left of his eyes). The degree right in front of his 
eye he knew to be that of the present minute, and a pecu- 
liar feeling, which he spontaneously compared to the con- 
science of right and wrong, told him, on looking towards 
the cloud on the left, the degree which, at waking, would 
be found opposite his eye. He was also quite sensible that 
the degrees to the right represented past minutes, as those 
to the left represented future minutes. He could apparently 
recognise, after it had passed on towards the right, the de- 
gree which was present when he first fixed the time, and 
found it easiest to count how many degrees it had moved to 
the right, and deduct this number from that originally fixed, 
when he was again asked. But he could answer either way. 
The whole of this description was given as nearly as possi- 
ble in the words and order here set down; and I asked no 
questions until he had finished his account of it, w r hich he 
had spontaneously offered to give me. 

I should observe, that in about one half of the trials made 
with him, I first commanded him to sleep 30, 40, 45, 50, 55, 
or 60 minutes ; and in the remainder I allowed him, when 
first asked, to fix his own time, which he did instantly, by 
looking at his scale, and wrhich was not copied from my ex- 
periments, inasmuch as he varied from 7 or 8 to 12, 14, 15, 
20, 22, 34, 35, 40, 41, 43, 47, 50, and 52 minutes. One 
reason why he never exceeded the hour, any more than my- 
self, was doubtless the fact that our time, on both sides, 
was limited, and that he retained this impression in his 
sleep. 

From the variation in the times fixed by himself from 
those fixed by me, and from his invariably, as he told me, 
looking first at his scale, before he could specify the time, I 
conclude, that the length of the sleep was not, in those in- 
stances in which he fixed it, the result of suggestion. But, 
granting that it was so, surely the fact, that he could see 
the moment fixed upon, when asked, visible as a future 
point, advancing to the present, and subsequently fading 
into the past, is truly remarkable. I am not aware that 
this curious phenomenon has been, in other cases, so minutely 
enquired into. I had the great advantage of having a sub- 
ject highly educated, of great natural ability, and able to 
express his feelings and observations in good and precise 
language. But I have no doubt, that if other cases were 



136 A NEW STATE INTERPOLATED. 

fully investigated, we should arrive at very interesting re- 
sults in reference to this subject. 

In the two instances in which the prediction of the time 
of waking was not precisely fulfilled in this case, the sub- 
ject slept about fifteen minutes longer than the allotted 
period. The first time, I observed some symptoms of 
change in his face and manner, but was not aware, till he 
awoke, that the time had been exceeded. Next day, I ob- 
served him more closely, and saw the same signs of some- 
thing unusual. He became silent, and, after a time, told 
me, that he was in no place, but, as it were, in air, and then 
he said, he was in a different world, — not meaning by this, 
as I ascertained, more than that he was in a different coun- 
try, and among strange people. He also saw better. At 
this time he was in a progressive state, the power of pre- 
dicting the time of waking having appeared in him very 
early, before he saw plainly. This change occurred about 
seven or eight minutes before the time he had named for 
waking. He continued to describe the new scene for about 
fifteen minutes, which, as I was busy noting what he said, 
seemed to be a shorter time. All at once, he became again 
silent, and then spoke of the things he had been alluding to 
before the change. I then asked him how long he had to 
sleep, and he said seven minutes, which proved correct. 
Here, being in a progressive state, he had spontaneously 
passed into another stage, the fifteen minutes passed in 
which did not count in his first state, but had been, as it 
were, interpolated. It is highly probable, that many in- 
stances of inaccuracy in the time fixed as the duration of 
the sleep, especially in the early stages, may admit of a 
similar explanation. I think it also very probable that, oc- 
casionally, the interference of a third party, especially if he 
should touch the sleeper, may derange the result, either by 
confusing his sensations, or by temporarily inducing a dif- 
ferent stage of sleep. 

2. The next form in which prevision appears, is that in 
which the somnambulist predicts changes in his own state 
of health. This, of course, is observed in those affected with 
diseases, and chiefly in such as suffer from attacks of a 
spasmodic nature, or from fits of neuralgic pain, migraine, 
fainting, &c. They will often, quite spontaneously, predict 
the precise time of one or more attacks ; they will describe 



LUCIDITY PRODUCED. 137 

their intensity, and specify their duration ; and they fre- 
quently do so long before their occurrence, so that the neces- 
sary precautions may be taken. 

They further announce, and not unfrequently, especially 
when under magnetic treatment, that the first, second, third, 
or other attack, to take place on a certain day, at an hour 
and minute named, will be the last. And all these predic- 
tions are very frequently fulfilled, quite independently of 
any regularity, nay, along with the utmost irregularity, in 
the recurrence of the attacks. It is also to be observed, 
that the patients are very often, perhaps always, in perfect 
ignorance of their own prediction, having no recollection of 
what occurs in their sleep, so that it is often difficult, with- 
out causing alarm, to keep them under our eyes, and within 
reach of assistance, when the predicted fit approaches. 
Such cases have been recorded in great numbers, but I have 
no personal experience of them, my experiments having been 
chiefly made with healthy subjects. 

3. The somnambulist often predicts, in his own case, the 
precise period when lucidity is to appear, or when it is to 
reach its highest degree. He says, on such a day, I shall 
be light, or I shall see, or I shall be able to see such a per- 
son, or such a place, or to fix the time when I shall become 
so, or the time when I shall have a fit. He will often pre- 
scribe the peculiar form of magnetism, which will bring about 
the result, whether gazing, or laying the hand on the head, 
or passes downward in front, or behind, or passes round the 
head, or breathing over the head or forehead, or over the 
heart or epigastrium, or holding the hands, &c. He tells us, 
how many times he must be magnetised, and for how long 
each time. And when he predicts the result, and prescribes a 
method, it is generally, perhaps always, found that he is right. 

In the case above referred to, when I asked the subject, 
who had begun to show imperfect lucidity, but could predict 
the duration of his sleep, whethor he should become lucid, he 
said he should ; but must first be magnetised many times. 
When I enquired how many, he looked intently, and then said 
that he could not specify the number of times ; that he saw 
the figures (Arabic) so dimly, that he could only say there 
were two of thqm, and that these were not only shrouded in a 
thick mist, of which at this period and long after he bitterly 
complained, but were also in constant motion, so that he 

12* 



138 PREDICTIONS CONCERNING- 

could not fix tliem. The next time I asked, he saw two figures, 
no longer obscured by mist, but of a red color, dazzling his 
eyes, and whirling round with such rapidity, that he could 
only distinguish that the first of them was a 6 or a 9, and the 
second a 6, a 9, or possibly a 0. I had thus, at this period, 
the agreeable choice of the numbers 60, 66, 69, 90, 96, 99. 
This referred to his highest lucidity ; but I soon found that 
he improved rapidly in clearness of vision, as far as his 
power extended, and that the high degree or stage to which 
he looked forward, was one in which he expected to possess 
powers at this time not observable at all. I shall give more 
details of this case, which is that already referred to as Mr. 
D., in Part II. Many instances of the same kind of pre- 
vision are on record, and while I write, I am awaiting, in 
the case of E. formerly mentioned, the fulfilment of a very 
remarkable prediction concerning a trance or extasis, the 
time of which she has fixed. 

I should here add, that Mr. D., in his waking state, has 
no idea either of what he predicted as to his attaining a 
high lucidity, nor the slightest recollection of his remarkable 
scale of time, of which he will be informed, for the first 
time, by reading these letters. I believe that E. is equally 
unaware of having predicted a trance. And this happens 
generally, if not uniformly, in such cases. 

4. The somnambulist will often predict the course of dis- 
ease and its termination, in those persons with whom he is 
en rapport, or sympathy. This phenomenon has been fre- 
quently recorded, but I have not hitherto had an opportunity 
of personally examining or verifying it. I may allude, how- 
ever, to one remarkable case of this kind, in which Aclele, 
the somnambulist of M. Cahagnet, predicted his death at 
the end of six years ; and I am informed, on good authority, 
that he died at the time specified, from natural causes. 
There exists also a very striking case of a similar prediction, 
made by a sorceress or clivineress in Venice, concerning 
the death, at different periods, fixed by her, of three gen- 
tlemen, friends, who together consulted her. They ajl died 
at the times predicted ; one from an accident ; the other from 
acute disease ; and the last, who died of fever, was so far 
from laboring under the depressing influence of the pre- 
diction, that he was, not long before his death, full of his 
hopes of recovery, and of his plans for the enjoyment of 



OTHER PERSONS. 139 

fetes about to occur. I would not allude to this case, were 
it not that I have it on the best authority, and that it must 
be regarded as perfectly attested. The divineress, it is in 
the highest degree probable, was in the state, either spon- 
taneous or artificially produced, of waking clairvoyance. 

Another case illustrates the power of predicting illness, 
and shows that clairvoyants do really perceive changes in 
the state of health of others, before the persons examined 
do so themselves. A gentleman, highly distinguished by his 
acquirements, his vast abilities, and his position, happened, 
when, as far as he knew, in perfect health, to visit a re- 
markable clairvoyant, who told him he felt a chill in his 
limbs, and a severe pain in his side. As he felt nothing of 
the kind, he regarded the statement as a mere blunder. 
But not many hours after, he was attacked by a violent pain 
in the side indicated, and soon afterwards felt a chill in 
his limbs; he then recollected that, just before seeing the 
clairvoyant, he had gone out in a biting wind, with very thin 
trowsers, and had felt much chilled at the time, but had 
forgotten the fact till he perceived the invasion of illness. 
It appears to me clear, that the clairvoyant here perceived 
a change in the part, and its nature, before it had advanced 
so far as to be sensible to the patient. And thus the acute 
observation of the present fact amounted to a prediction, 
unless we suppose that the future state of the patient ap- 
peared to the clairvoyant to be present, in which case it was 
a case of real prevision. 

5. Other cases are recorded, and not unfrequently, in 
which the clairvoyant has predicted an accident which was 
to befal him, and perhaps to cause a fit of fainting or of 
epilepsy. This I have not seen, but it appears to be well 
authenticated, and is remarkable for the prevision of some- 
thing external to the subject, and with which he has no 
direct sympathy, or means of communication, save the un- 
known or obscure one to which these phenomena are usually 
referred. The accident is often predicted vaguely as to its 
nature, but precisely as to the time of occurrence, and the 
effects produced by it. It may be a fright from a rat or 
mouse, or other cause, or it may be a fall or stumble, &c. 

6. In other cases, again, the clairvoyant is said to have 
accurately predicted events, altogether unconnected with 
himself. He has told the operator of a letter to be received 



140 SPONTANEOUS CLAIRVOYANCE. 

next day, or several days, or even weeks after, and the name 
of the writer, as well as the contents of his letter. I know 
of one very remarkable case, in which a clairvoyant, whom 
I afterwards saw, and found to possess considerable lucidity, 
(although he was, when I examined him, in a different, and 
lower stage of lucidity, which had spontaneously super- 
vened,) predicted to his magnetiser the arrival of a letter 
from a distance, on a particular day, with other details of a 
private nature, which were found to be correct. Not having 
had personal experience of this form of prevision, I slrall 
not dwell further upon it. 

The same degree of prevision has been alleged, as occur- 
ring in reference, not only to letters, but to events of various 
kinds ; but, for the reason above given, I shall not here enter 
into further details, as enough has been said to illustrate the 
nature of the alleged facts. And it appears to me, that as 
the facts of prevision, in regard to the duration of the sleep, 
to the course of the somnambulist's illness, or of his fits, and 
in regard also to the time when certain powers or stages of 
lucidity are to occur, must be admitted, we must pause before 
rejecting those phenomena of prevision, in reference to per- 
sons and things unconnected with the sleeper, which, often 
on the very same authority, and that good authority, are 
likewise recorded. 

Those who have the opportunity, which I have not at pre- 
sent, should particularly investigate this part of the subject; 
and as cases of this kind, though somewhat less frequent than 
others, are yet said to occur pretty often, there is every rea- 
son to hope that the question will, if this be done, be very 
soon and satisfactorily settled. 



Does clairvoyance, using the term in a general sense, occur 
spontaneously ? When we consider, that the state of natural 
or spontaneous somnambulism is, in all probability, or rather 
certainly, identical with the artificial magnetic sleep, we are 
prepared to expect that, as in some cases of the latter sym- 
pathy and clairvoyance occur, so also will these phenomena 
be sometimes present in the former. And when we further 
reflect, that sympathy and even clairvoyance may and do 
occur, when produced artificially, in the ordinary waking or 
conscious state, that is, in a state the consciousness of which 



REMARKABLE CASE. 141 

is continuous with our ordinary consciousness, we may look 
for their occurrence, naturally, in the ordinary state. Indeed, 
as to sympathy, this is a well-known fact, although there is 
good reason to believe that the state of reverie or abstrac- 
tion, as might be expected, is the most favorable to their 
production. 

Now when we enquire, we find, that facts are known, and 
have been recorded, which prove the occurrence of sponta- 
neous clairvoyance in reference to present or passing events. 
Every one has heard of such examples, which, however, are 
generally noticed as freaks of imagination and strange coin- 
cidences. If they be coincidences, they are indeed most 
strange, for the chances against them as such, must have 
been almost infinitely great. 

I have been informed, on what I consider perfectly good 
authority, of the following case, which is not generally known. 
A lady was subject, occasionally, not to illness, but to a cer- 
tain state of mind, possibly connected with a tendency to 
reverie or abstraction, in which she became aware of what 
the persons she thought of were doing at the moment, even 
at very considerable distances. She did not know, at least 
so far as I am informed, any cause which produced this state. 
On one occasion, residing at some distance from town, she 
had, in this way, while fully awake, but late in the evening, 
a vision of her son's chambers in town, such as I believe she 
had often had before. She saw the porter of the chambers 
leave his own room, with a candle in one hand and a knife 
in the other, and proceed to her son's bed-room, which he 
entered softly, and, going to the bed-side, ascertained that 
his master was asleep. He then took from the clothes of 
that gentleman a key or set of keys, went to the other end 
of the room, opened a trunk or box, took out a pocket-book, 
and from it a <£50 Bank of England note. The thief then 
returned to the bed, replaced the key, and once more look- 
ing, to ascertain that the sleeper still slept, retired to his own 
room. The lady was naturally much alarmed, and next day 
drove to town, and saw her son. Without letting him know 
her vision, she contrived to ascertain that he had placed in 
his box a bank-note for <£50, and begged him to look whether 
it was still there. The note was gone; the lock uninjured. 
She now told her story, and after consultation with her son, 
who agreed with her that he could not, on this evidence, 



142 SPONTANEOUS CLAIRVOYANCE. 

accuse any one of the theft, the note, the number of which 
was known, was stopped at the bank, and the fact advertised. 
It was never presented for payment. The porter soon left 
the chambers, and there the matter would have ended; but 
some time afterwards he was taken up for some other rob- 
bery. And when his lodgings were searched, there was 
found the very identical note, rolled up hard into a small 
bulk, and at the bottom of the criminal's purse. 

This remarkable vision was told me by a gentleman of 
great acquirements and of the highest character, who him- 
self had it from the lady, and told me that I might entirely 
rely on its authenticity. It was no dream, but a waking 
vision. And had it been a dream, this would only prove that 
the clairvoyant state had this time occurred during sleep, 
which had often occurred in the waking state to the same 
lady. The fact would not be less striking nor less valuable. 
I shall return to this case. 

I cannot entertain a doubt, that many dreams, which are 
found afterwards to have been true and exact, depend on 
the same cause ; nay, I think it probable, d priori, that the 
state of spontaneous clairvoyance, like natural somnambu- 
lism, occurs much more frequently in the sleeping than in 
the waking state. We all know how heterogeneous dreams 
often are ; but it is very far from being impossible, or even 
improbable, that, in certain persons, many of their dreams 
are the result of true clairvoyance. Baron von Reichenbach 
has observed, that not only those who walk in their sleep, 
but those who talk much in their sleep, are uniformly sensi- 
tive to the odylic influence ; and we know that the highly 
sensitive, in this sense, are found to be most easily thrown 
into magnetic sleep and clairvoyance. 

The striking case of Zschokke, the celebrated and amiable 
Swiss novelist, proves that sympathetic retrovision is also 
a spontaneous occurrence. He frequently found himself, 
as he has described it in his works, possessed of a perfect 
memory of the past life of the person he was speaking to ; 
and, on one occasion, he confounded a sceptic who defied him, 
by declaring to him certain passages of his past life, known 
to himself alone, and such as he could not have wished 
to be known to others. This was done in a large company. 

With regard to clairvoyant prevision, I have already 
spoken of its occurrence in the Venetian sorceress, as possi- 



SPONTANEOUS RETROVISION AND REVISION. 143 

bly induced by artificial means. But I have no information 
on this point, and it is at least possible, that, in her case, it 
may have been spontaneous. 

But there are numerous recorded instances of spontane- 
ous prevision, and among them that of M. de Cazotte, which, 
as it is far from being so well known as it deserves, I shall give 
in Part II. In his case, as in that of the lady above men- 
tioned, the occurrence of the peculiar state was frequent, 
and it was always observed that he was, when lucid, in a 
peculiar sleep, not ordinary sleep. There was, very pro- 
bably, in his case, divided consciousness. Persons of the 
highest character are, or lately were, yet alive, who heard 
his remarkable prophecy spoken of and often ridiculed, be- 
fore the events to Avhich it refers took place. 

Moreover, we have the recorded, and in many cases, well 
attested instances of second sight, to prove, if not the ex- 
istence of spontaneous prevision of coming events, at least 
the firm conviction of its existence, impressed on the popu- 
lar mind in many countries. I am disposed to think, that 
no such general belief ever prevailed, without a natural 
truth for its origin or foundation, apart altogether from the 
precise nature of that truth, and of the true explanation, 
w^hich is matter for enquiry. I shall return hereafter to 
the subject of popular predictions. 



I have now to mention a few circumstances, connected 
with the magnetic sleep, which I have either not hitherto 
noticed, or only briefly alluded to, because they do not occur 
so frequently or uniformly as those which I have discussed. 
It is possible, and, in some instances, probable, that these 
also, when the matter is carefully investigated, may be 
found to be present in most or in all cases, and to present 
themselves in particular stages, so that they may often 
have been overlooked. Observers should therefore attend 
to them. 

1. The first is, the occurrence of a very great unwilling- 
ness to name any person, place, or object. The sleeper will 
often take a minute or two to describe, rather than use the 
appropriate name. He seems often to labor under a diffi- 
culty in finding the name, but still oftener, his manner in- 
dicates that he will not use the name. Thus, while he often, 



144 PECULIARITIES OF SPEECH. 

if urged, gives himself a wrong name, very often that of his 
magnetiser, he will not address his magnetiser, or speak of 
him, under his name, but will use a circumlocution. He 
will not speak of being lucid, or clairvoyant, in some cases, 
but will say he is light, or bright, or warm, or sent or taken 
away, and so on. And very many clairvoyants will not 
speak of death, but will use the most laborious circumlocu- 
tions rather than do so, whether it be, that the dead do not 
appear as dead to them, or that the idea of death is repug- 
nant to them ; and I have not had, as yet, sufficient oppor- 
tunities to enable me to speak confidently on this matter. 
When they adopt a word or phrase, they usually adhere to 
it, for the person or object to which they have applied it; 
and hardly any very lucid subject is without some peculiar 
form of expression. Thus, E. always speaks of a dead per- 
son as shelled, and of being magnetised as being warmed ; 
and I have heard of various similar examples. In other 
respects, the language of clairvoyants is generally improved, 
and often remarkably distinct and energetic in its character. 
This point is well worthy of study. Many cases, however, 
at least in the stages observed, either exhibit no peculiari- 
ties, or such as have been overlooked. 

2. I have already alluded to the difficulty, in some cases, 
of ascertaining, at the moment, whether a clairvoyant is 
describing a past or a passing scene. It would appear that 
the impressions of both, being alike peculiar, are of so 
equal a vividness as to be liable to be confounded together. 
I think it right here again to point out, that this often 
causes an appearance of doubt and of failure, where all is 
true, and is found so, when w T e are enabled to trace the im- 
pressions to their source. It often happens, that the sub- 
ject, if his attention be called to the point, finds the means 
of distinguishing past from present things, but this appears 
not to be always the case. 

3. Although the clairvoyant has, naturally, no recollec- 
tion whatever of his magnetic sleep, yet, in many cases, he 
may be made to remember the whole, or part, of what 
passes, by the will, and at the command of the magnetiser. 
In many cases, in which this has not been observed, I believe 
it has not been tried. But I have myself often desired the 
subject to remember, when awake, any fact or statement, or 
the whole, of what he has seen and described ; and, on wak- 



DIFFERENT STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS. 145 

ing, he has done so, just as we sometimes remember the 
whole, or part of a dream, and at other times remember 
only that we have dreamt, but not the subject of our dream, 
which yet was very vivid at the time. 

The influence of the command of the magnetiser is so 
great, that we can even affect the feelings by a command 
given in the sleep. We can cause the sleeper to awake with 
a pleasant sensation, even when he has seemed like one 
under a nightmare ; and although I should be sorry to do 
it, I am sure that in some cases I could cause the sleeper, 
when awake, to feel uneasy and wretched by a command 
given in the sleep. I have already mentioned the power we 
have of impressing the sleeper's mind so, that, when awake 
or long after, he shall, without knowing why, feel compelled 
to perform some act, although it may have no object, and 
can only cause him to be laughed at. But I repeat, that 
we do not find it, as a matter of fact, easy to do this, when 
the act required appears to the sleeper improper or wrong. 
4. I would here mention a fact, which has several times pre- 
sented itself to me, and which I suspect is much more fre- 
quent than is generally supposed. I mean, the occurrences, 
during the magnetic sleep, or rather during the existence 
of a certain consciousness separate from the ordinary one, 
of a third consciousness separate from both, which spon- 
taneously occurs, and is, as it were, interpolated. If this 
happen on several successive occasions, I observe that the 
sleeper does not mix up any of the three consciousnesses, but 
when his ordinary magnetic state is present, has no more 
recollection of what has passed in the more unusual one, than 
he has of the former in his waking state; nor is there any 
connection between the waking state and the second magnetic 
• consciousness, any more than the first. Whichever of the 
three states he is in, he remembers the previous periods in 
that state alone. In one case, that in which I first noticed 
it, (the fact has, I believe, been often recorded, but I had 
forgotten it, when it was forced on my attention,) the 
sleeper all at once changed his manner, and spoke of a new 
vision, which was clearer than any previous one, and was 
preceded by a comparatively long journey through space or 
air, to the scene of it. He was much delighted with the 
distinctness of what he saw, and, although he had never 
been within perhaps thousands of miles of the place, he 
13 



146 OCCURRENCE OF PECULIAR STATES 

described it, down to the minutest details, exactly as if he 
were on the spot, pointing out the features of a landscape, 
and attracted by a thousand minute beauties. Nay, he 
identified himself with the scene to such an extent, that he 
spoke of every hill, tree, house, man, and beast, as if they 
were old friends, and insisted that he was born there, and 
had lived there a long time, when a boy. I thought he 
had passed, permanently, into a higher stage of lucidity 
than before, and that thenceforward I should always obtain 
the same state ; but I was mistaken , for when I asked him how 
long he had to sleep, the time he had fixed being past, he 
strenuously denied that he was asleep, and when I told him 
his eyes were shut, declared they were wide open, even 
after feeling them at my request. As this had never hap- 
pened before, I saw he was in a new stage, and I was cal- 
culating on its permanence, when I observed a change come 
over him, and when I again spoke to him, he had returned 
to the place in which he had been before his first change. 
He now not only admitted being asleep, but fixed the time 
of waking, when it appeared, that the new state, which had 
lasted about fifteen minutes, had been interpolated merely. 
He had now not the slightest recollection of that new state, 
or of his erroneous idea of having been born and having 
spent his early years in that country ; and when awake, he 
had quite forgotten both the magnetic states. 

It may appear to many, that the remarkable vision above 
alluded to, was simply a vivid dream, and I am not disposed 
to quarrel with the name. But then, what is a dream ? The 
truth is, we know so little of the matter, that it is quite 
possible, nay, more than possible, that all, or at least many 
dreams are clairvoyant visions, the fine and subtle influences 
by which clairvoyance, if it exist at all, must be produced, 
being noticed in their impressions on us, better during 
sleep, natural or magnetic, because the disturbances caused 
through our external senses are then shut out. And when 
we find the dreamer describing not only localities, but the 
occupations of people in those localities, correctly, as then 
passing events, it is easy to see how dreams may often be 
true, and to understand how it is, that we sometimes re- 
member, and sometimes forget them. When our dreams 
are obviously only imaginary, as concerns ourselves, we 
may be mixing up various impressions, and sympathizing 



OF CONSCIOUSNESS IN CLAIRVOYANTS. 147 

with others, in their actions, or in their thoughts, and the 
sudden transitions of our dreams are matters of daily expe- 
rience in Animal Magnetism. 

5. It sometimes happens, strange as it may appear, that 
a person is seen to be, at one and the same time, in two 
distinct states, and to possess, at once, two consciousnesses. 
Thus, while he is conversing rationally with you, and ob- 
serving all that goes on, he will suddenly, and without ceas- 
ing to follow the current of talk, see before him scenes and 
objects and persons of which he has no recollection, but 
which his magnetiser instantly recognises from the descrip- 
tion. Thus E., formerly alluded to, while awake and per- 
fectly collected, will suddenly see persons whom she has 
formerly seen and described in the sleep, but does not re- 
member, the magnetic consciousness, which, in the full 
sleep, would enable her to remember them as seen in a 
former sleep, being apparently overpowered by the stronger 
ordinary consciousness. When told that the persons she 
sees are not present, but only visions, she is puzzled and 
alarmed. 

I am not given to accounting for facts, especially when 
they have not been fully studied ; I am satisfied to observe 
and to verify them; but I cannot refrain from here saying, 
that this strange phenomenon of double and simultaneous 
consciousness may not, after all, be so very strange. It 
seems to be caused by the circumstance, that the two halves 
of the brain, which are equal and alike, so that we have 
two brains, as we have two hands, or two eyes, are not 
acting together, so that while the one half is in the ordinary 
waking state, (an$, like one eye, it suffices for most purposes,) 
the other, probably by some derangement of health, has 
passed into the magnetic state, spontaneously. It recals 
the visions of a former magnetic sleep, or rather, it repeats 
the act of clairvoyance on objects formerly seen. 

Every one has felt the strange sensation of knowing 
beforehand what is about to be said or done. I have often 
perceived it myself, so that I felt as if I could say, " Now 
you, Mr. A., are going to say so and so, to which Mr. B. 
will answer so and so, and then you will reply so and so," 
&c. But I never could actually force myself to say this, 
till too late, nor, so far as I know, has any one else been 
able to do so. I am inclined to believe, that this sensation 



148 TRANSFERENCE OF SENSES. 

also depends on the unequal action of the two brains ; that 
while we are, with the one, in a reverie, which is a close 
approach to the magnetic state, w T e are, with the other, 
drinking in w T hat passes, but not attending to it at the time, 
and that on suddenly coming out of our abstraction, we 
notice at a glance, and a lightning glance, all that has 
passed, which, by some confusion of two consciousnesses, 
appears future ; but it may also be, that with one brain, we 
have unconsciously exercised a certain degree of clairvoyant 
prevision. This confusion is always of short duration. I 
do not pretend that I have here explained it; I merely wish 
to show, that it may be connected with unequal action of 
the two brains, and that a careful study of similar facts in 
Animal Magnetism, will probably enable us to explain it. 

6. I have not hitherto noticed, save in passing, a phe- 
nomenon which occasionally presents itself, but which is not 
by any means uniformly present in a marked form; I mean, 
transference of the senses to some special part of the body. 
I have already stated, that the clairvoyant sees, without his 
eyes, by means of peculiar emanations, Ave shall say, w T hich 
reach his sensorium by another path. I have also men- 
tioned, that he will often place an object on his head to see 
it better. 

But it sometimes happens, that the power of seeing, not 
the ordinary sense of sight, but the clairvoyant power, is 
located in some special part. It has been observed to be 
located in the pit of the stomach, in the tips of the fingers, 
in the occiput as well as in the forehead, or on the top of 
the head, and in one case which I heard of from a scientific 
gentleman who tested it, in the soles of the feet. The 
books and journals which treat of Animal Magnetism teem 
with similar facts; and the head, hand, and epigastrium, 
seem to be the usually selected parts, probably from the 
proximity to the brain in the first, the great development 
of the nerves of touch in the second, and the presence of 
the great sympathetic plexus of nerves in the third. The 
fact itself is beyond all doubt, and it is quite unnecessary 
to accumulate cases. In one form or other, the power of 
dispensing with the eyes, and yet perceiving color, &c. 
quite plainly, is found in every good subject. 

The same thing frequently happens with hearing. Thus 
E. ? when on her travelling state or stage, is utterly deaf to 



TRANSFERENCE OF PAIN. 149 

all sounds, save those which are addressed to her by speak- 
ing with the mouth in contact with the tips of her fingers. 
This fact I have myself verified. I believe she would not 
hear a pistol fired at her ear, in that state. 

Cases are also recorded, in which the sense of taste was 
transferred to the epigastrium ; and, if I am not mistaken, 
although I cannot find the reference to it, the sense of 
smell has also been located there. As for touch, being 
already present in all parts, it cannot of course be trans- 
ferred. 

In all these instances, it is not that the part acquires the 
peculiar properties of the regular external organ of the 
sense transferred : but that the nerves of the part serve as 
conductors of the subtle (probably odylic) influence to the 
cerebral organ of the internal sense. The fingers do not 
collect and transmit the rays of light, so that they shall 
fall on the retina, and the image there formed, according to 
the laws of optics, be conveyed by the optic nerve to the sen- 
sorium ; but the nerves of the fingers convey to the sensorium, 
directly, an influence, which there produces an image of the 
object. At least, so far as I have been able to trace it, 
such appears to be the process. 

7. Another curious phenomenon, frequently witnessed, is 
the apparent transference of pain from the subject to the 
magnetiser. If the subject have a headache, or a tooth- 
ache, or a neuralgic or rheumatic pain, it often happens 
that the magnetiser, who does not perhaps know of its exist- 
ence, finds himself affected with it. And, at the same time, 
the patient is partially or entirely relieved. I am not satis- 
fied that the two facts are related to each other necessarily, 
as cause and effect ; for a pain is often relieved when the 
magnetiser perceives no pain himself; and he may suffer, 
without sensibly relieving the patient. But it does occur, 
especially where the object has not been to relieve the pain, 
that he, as it were, catches it ; and, in many instances, it 
is also relieved in the patient, not, however, as I conceive, 
so much because the magnetiser has got it, as because he 
has magnetised the patient. 

I had once, in my own experience, a striking poof that 
the magnetiser may suffer. I was, however, in that case 
the patient. I have for years suffered from weakness, swell- 
ing and pain of the limbs, arising from a chronic affection of 

13* 



150 TRANSFERENCE OF PAIN. 

the lymphatics. Of late the pain has been nearly altogether 
removed, so as only to appear when I walk or stand too long, 
and the limbs have become much stronger than before, by the 
use of the mineral waters of Aix-la-Chapelle. On one occa- 
sion, Mr. Lewis tried to act on my right leg, with the view 
of showing, to an audience, that he could paralyse the mus- 
cles by his influence, in those who were susceptible to it. I 
was but slightly susceptible, this being the first trial ; and 
Mr. Lewis, before he succeeded, which he did, in paralysing 
the limb so that I could not move it from the floor, had to 
exert all his power for a considerable time. He also made 
passes over the limb, but not with the intention of relieving 
pain, of which I had not complained, as at the time I had lit- 
tle or none. Next day, and even the day followng, Mr. Lewis 
suffered so much, although otherwise perfectly well, from 
weakness, swelling, and some little pain, but especially weak- 
ness of his leg and ankle, that he was compelled to put on a 
bandage. He informed me, that similar things had often 
occurred to him, as he is of an exceedingly susceptible and 
sensitive temperament; but that, had he known, or thought 
of, the state of my limb, he could have prevented the effect 
on himself. All this, from what I have seen, I believe to be 
true. 

I may Here allude to a fact, which I cannot, however, 
vouch for as having seen it, or tested it, but which I have 
on what I regard as the unexceptionable testimony of a 
gentleman much experienced in these matters, and of a truly 
philosophical turn of mind, that a magnetiser may thus be 
affected w^ith the aches of his patient, even at a great dis- 
tance, if some objects, such as a glove or a handkerchief, be 
used ; which, being placed on the suffering part, is then sent 
to him, and will often produce in him the same pain. I may 
return to this, when treating of the magnetisation of inani- 
mate objects. 

It also occasionally happens, if the magnetiser be suffer- 
ing from pain, and if he magnetise a healthy but susceptible 
person, that the pain is transferred from the former to the 
latter. This does not, of course, occur frequently, because 
it is a general rule, not to magnetise, unless the magnetiser 
be in good health. But I have seen a headache thus trans- 
ferred, so that the patient had it for the remainder of the 
day, while the magnetiser was instantly and entirely relieved. 



NAMES GIVEN TO ANIMAL MAGNETISM. 151 

Many such cases have been recorded, and have led to the 
adoption of the rule above mentioned. 

In my next Letter, I shall consider the phenomena pro- 
ducible in the conscious state, that is, without going so far 
as to induce the magnetic sleep, and which have often been 
supposed to be radically distinct from those of Animal 
Magnetism, and have made much noise, both in America 
and in this country, under various new names, such as 
Electro-biology, Electro-psychology, &c. &c. I shall also 
bring before you that peculiar method of inducing the mag- 
netic sleep, or at least, a magnetic sleep, which is preferred 
by Mr. Braid, and by him called Hypnotism. 



LETTEU IX. 

As I am now about to discuss matters to which various 
names have been given, I think it is best to remind you that 
I use the term Animal Magnetism, not as theoretically per- 
fect, nor as quite satisfactory, but because it is established, 
known, and generally used in Europe ; and is, theoretically, 
at least as good as any other that has been at all generally 
employed. Mesmerism has come, in this country, to have 
a meaning limited, in some instances, to the sleep, and its 
phenomena, in others, to the curative agency. Electro- 
biology signifies vital electricity, or the electric theory of 
life ; electro-psychology signifies the electric theory of 
thought or of mind. Both proceed on the assumption, now 
generally regarded as fallacious, that that which we call life, 
or vitality and thought, mind, or soul, are essentially elec- 
trical, or depend on electricity as one of their conditions. 
Now it is impossible to deny, that the view which regards 
the nerves, whether of motion or sensation, as wires con- 
ducting electric currents, is very tempting to the speculative 
enquirer, and can appeal to some very striking analogies. 
Mr. Smcc's work vail explain what I mean. Nay more, 
Matteucci and Dubois Reymond have proved that electric 
currents do take place in the body, and especially during 
muscular action. But then, there are many points which 



152 PHENOMENA OF SUGGESTION 

electricity cannot clear up ; the analogies are partial only ; 
and the presence of electric currents does not prove these 
to be the causes of muscular action. They may be its 
effects. Indeed, since we know that at every moment, in 
every motion, in every sensation, in every thought, a 
chemical change is concerned, we might deduce from this, 
a priori, the probability of electric currents in the body. 
But we are not entitled, on that account, to say that the 
vital phenomena are electrical, more than we are, perhaps 
not so much as we are, to say that they are chemical. 
Chemico-biology is a better founded name than electro- 
biology ; but yet it is not to be recommended. It may be 
urged, and truly, that Animal Magnetism places magnetism 
where the other names place electricity and chemical action. 
But then this name is established ; and the analogies be- 
tween vital and magnetic phenomena are quite as strong as 
in the other cases. Besides, the magnet, in addition to 
Ferro-magnetism, does actually possess a force capable of 
producing the phenomena in question, such as the magnetic 
sleep. And if we use the term Animal Magnetism, as dis- 
tinguished from Ferro-magnetism, to designate simply this 
unknown force or influence, we do not thereby attribute life 
to Ferro-magnetism as its cause, as the name might possibly 
seem to indicate, if not explained. In this sense, then, 
Animal Magnetism is synonymous with the odyle of Baron 
von Reichenbach; it is generally received; and it embraces 
the whole series of phenomena. When I come to treat of 
the cause or of the explanation of these phenomena, I shall 
endeavor to show, that, if we are to have a new name, that 
of odyle is unexceptionable. 

I have already stated, that many remarkable phenomena 
may be, and daily are, produced on persons in the ordi- 
nary conscious, or waking state, by the usual magnetic 
processes of gazing, with or without contact, or passes, 
when not pushed so far as to cause the magnetic sleep, or 
when the operator wills that the sleep shall not be pro- 
duced. 

These phenomena are chiefly such as exhibit the control 
acquired by the magnetiser over his subject's movements, 
sensations, perceptions, memory, will, &c. &c. I need not 
here recapitulate them in detail, because they have been 
already mentioned, each in its place, and because I shall 



IN THE CONSCIOUS STATE. 153 

presently have to describe them, as produced in a different 
way. I shall merely remind you, that every one of them 
may be produced in the sleep, as well as in the waking state, 
ly the ordinary processes, and that I have myself often, by 
that process, produced them in both states. 

But they may also be produced, or rather the state favor- 
able to their production may be induced, in a manner some- 
Avhat different, "without the necessity of the influence which 
is exerted by the magnetiser, in the usual method, over his 
patient, and rather by the subject's action on himself; and 
this is what has been called, in America, electro-biology or 
electro-psychology. 

I have recently had, and most fully availed myself of, 
the best opportunities of witnessing and studying these phe- 
nomena, both as produced in the usual method, by Mr. 
Lewis, and as produced in the other way, by Dr. Darling. 
I have also, as above stated, produced them myself in both 
ways. I cannot allude to these gentlemen without recording 
my grateful sense of their extreme kindness in enabling me 
to see and study their operations, both in public, and on 
very numerous occasions in private. Both of. them have 
been honorably anxious to promote the progress of science, 
and have spared no trouble to assist me in my investiga- 
tions. It is quite impossible for any one to be more ready 
and willing than they are, to explain and communicate all 
they know ; and their extended experience renders their 
communications exceedingly valuable. 

1. The first observation I would make is, that there is 
not the slightest shade of difference between the phenomena 
produced by Dr. Darling, who is a singularly neat operator, 
on persons in the conscious, waking state, by the peculiar 
process he employs, and those produced by Mr. Lewis, on 
the same persons, in the same state, by the usual process. 

It may happen, and it does happen, that at one time Dr. 
Darling exhibits certain forms of experiment, which Mr. 
Lewis has not on a given occasion exhibited, but which he 
could, if he tried, produce. And I have also seen, in the 
same cases, things done by Mr. Lew T is, which Dr. Darling 
had not tried in these cases, but could have shown, had he 
tried, and which he has shown perhaps in other cases. This 
is the only difference I have been able to detect, and it 
depends on the circumstance, that the time is limited, and 



154 DR. darling's method. 

that commonly, some particular form of experiment, which 
comes out well, is dwelt upon so long, that no time is left 
to try others. But I have seen no one form of experiment 
tried by either, which has not, at some time, been also ex- 
hibited by the other, in the same, ordinary waking state of 
consciousness. 

2. The process followed by Dr. Darling, which, he informs 
me, he has never made a secret, is to cause a certain number 
of persons, willing to try, to gaze for ten or fifteen minutes 
steadily at a small coin, or double convex mass of zinc with 
a small centre of copper, placed in the palm of the left 
hand. The other conditions are, perfect stillness, entire 
concentration of the mind on the object, and a perfectly 
passive will, or state of mind. Dr. Darling does not profess 
to affect those who sit down with an active determination 
to resist ; nor such as come with an eager desire to detect 
the imposture which they politely attribute to him; nor 
such as gaze, not on the coin, but on their neighbors, to see 
how they get on ; nor such persons as an ingenious gentle- 
man, who, after descending from the platform, declared, in 
the hearing of my informant, that he had given the thing a 
fair trial ; for that he had looked steadily at the coin, keep- 
ing his eyes shut (! ?), and had, besides, occupied himself, 
the whole time, in solving a problem ! Truly it would have 
been wonderful indeed had he been affected. 

Of the persons tried as above described, a certain pro- 
portion, and of those who really fulfil the conditions, and 
are not agitated or alarmed, a much larger proportion, are 
found, on examination, to be more or less subject to Dr. 
Darling's will. He ascertains, in the first instance, which 
of them have been affected, by desiring them, singly, to close 
the eyes, when he touches the forehead with his finger, 
makes a few passes over the eyes, or rather presses the 
eyelids down with a rapid sideward motion, and then tells 
them that they cannot open their eyes. If, in spite of him, 
they can do so, he generally takes hold of one hand, and 
desires them to gaze at him intently for a moment, he also 
gazing at them, and then repeats the trial. If it fail, he 
tries no further at that time, but goes on to the next case. 
In me, he succeeded in this on the second trial — I could not 
open my eyes. Seeing this, he said " Now you can," and 
I could instantly do it. 



EFFECTS PKODUCED. 155 

I have seen, especially in private, a considerable propor- 
tion found to be thus affected, and I have never seen the 
experiment tried on even a small number, without at least 
one being affected to that extent. Those thus discovered 
to be susceptible are requested to remain and to keep their 
eyes shut, the others are dismissed. 

3. He now takes one of them, and, having repeated the 
trial with the eyelids, to make sure that the effect continues, 
tells him to close his mouth; and then, after pressing the 
lips together with his hands, and making a pass under the 
jaw, tells him he cannot open it, which in many instances 
proves to be true, but was not so in my case. He then, 
perhaps, causes the subject to stretch out his hands and 
place palm to palm, presses the hands strongly together by 
a rapid motion of his own, and defies him to separate them. 
This also he cannot do. Or he makes him place one or both 
hands on his (the subject's own) head, strikes them rapidly 
down on the head, and defies him to remove them, which, 
again, he finds it impossible to do, till, as in all these cases, 
Dr. Darling says, "Now you can," or " All right." 

In the same way, Dr. Darling proceeds to show his power 
over the sensations of his subject. For example, he deprives 
one hand, or one arm, of all feeling, and renders it utterly 
insensible to the most acute pain; or he makes his subject 
feel a cold pencil-case burning hot, or himself freeze with 
cold, or taste water as milk, brandy, or any other liquid, 
as I shall illustrate by a case or two, in Part II. 

In like manner, he controls the will, so that the subject 
is either compelled to perform a certain act, to fall asleep 
in a minute, or to whistle, &c. &c, or is rendered unable to 
perform any act, as to jump on a handkerchief, which if he 
tries to do, he is sure, according to the volition of Dr. Dar- 
ling, either to come down straddling over it, or to come down 
on one or other side of it ; or he may hit out straight at Dr. 
Darling's face, but cannot touch it, &c. &c. 

Dr. Darling further controls the memory. He causes the 
subject to forget his own name, or that of any other indivi- 
dual ; or to be unable to name a single letter of the alphabet, 
&c. &c. 

Moreover, he causes him to take any object to be what 
Dr. Darling says it is, a watch for a snuff-box, a chair for 
a dog, &c. &c, or to see an object named, where nothing 



156 DR. darling's method. 

really is, as a book in Dr. Darling's empty hand, or a bird 
in the room, where none is. The illusion is often absolutely 
perfect. 

Again, he will cause the subject to imagine himself another 
person, such as Dr. Darling, Father Matthew, Prince Al- 
bert, or the Duke of Wellington, and to act the character 
to the life; to lecture on biology or on temperance, &c, or 
if he imagine himself an officer, to drill imaginary troops, 
and so on ad infinitum. 

Lastly, Dr. Darling can control, perfectly, the emotions. 
If the subject be laughing, he causes him first to stop laugh- 
ing, then to feel serious, sad, and miserable, and to burst 
out in tears and lamentations, or, if that appear, as it often 
does, too painful, he will make him feel intensely happy, or 
laugh incessantly, without being able to assign a cause for 
his mirth. 

Every one of these forms of influencing the subject I have 
seen, varied in a hundred details. The effect is usually, 
but not always, instantly produced, and as instantly removed 
by the operator's simple word. And there is no mystery, no 
secret, nothing supernatural in it. It is a perfectly natural 
phenomenon, and any one who tries, may do it, not indeed 
so well or so successfully, at first, as Dr. Darling, who, as I 
said before, operates with extreme neatness, and has vast 
experience to aid him. But, with practice, even this may 
be attained; and Lord Eglinton, Col. Gore Browne, and 
other gentlemen, as well as myself, have found no difficulty, 
when we lighted on a susceptible subject. 

Good subjects are easily found, if we only make the trial. 
Dr. Darling showed his power, on three different occasions, 
to large parties at my house. On the first, he was entirely 
and most beautifully successful with a gentleman whom he 
had never before seen, but whom Col. Gore Browne had 
just ascertained to be susceptible. On the second, he was 
equally successful with a gentleman whom he had himself 
discovered to be susceptible, on the preceding day, at the 
house of a lady well known in literature. On the third, he 
was again equally successful with a young gentleman, who, 
at my request, consented to be tried, and who had never 
been even tried by any one ; and on a fourth gentleman, 
the secretary of a public institution, whom Dr. Darling had 



MR. LEWIS'S METHOD YIELDS SIMILAR RESULTS. 157 

himself discovered, at his lecture the day before, to be sus- 
ceptible. These cases, all utterly indisputable, and which 
were seen by many persons of high standing, both in society 
generally, in literature, in art, and in science, will be given 
in Part II. I can testify to the exactness of all the details. 
I could multiply similar cases without end, but that would 
be superfluous. Every one who saw the facts exhibited in 
these cases, was thoroughly satisfied of their genuineness. 

4. Now, when we enquire into the cause or the explanation 
of these facts, the first point to be borne in mind is, that 
the subjects, in order to be successfully operated on, must 
not only be susceptible, but must be brought into a certain 
state. This, in Dr. Darling's process, is done chiefly by 
themselves, by steadily gazing at the coin, which, according 
to Dr. Darling, has not, as some imagine, a direct electric 
or galvanic action, but simply assists in enabling the subject 
to concentrate his thoughts, and thus to bring himself into 
a state of abstraction favorable to the further operations. 

Mr. Lewis produces the same state, by gazing for five 
minutes only, with extreme earnestness and concentration, 
at the subject, while the latter gazes either at him, or at an 
object in the same direction. The other conditions are the 
same as those of Dr. D. He adds certain gestures and 
passes, all of which are most deeply imbued with that ener- 
getic concentration of will, which I have never seen so 
strongly developed, nor so beautifully exhibited in the natu- 
ral language, as in Mr. Lewis. 

The same state, I say, is produced ; that is, the same in 
this, that the subject is now, if susceptible, under the con- 
trol of the operator. But I conceive that there may, nay, 
must be, a difference in the two states, inasmuch as we can 
hardly suppose the effect to be the same when the powerful 
and often strongly felt influence of another is added, and is 
indeed the chief agent in disturbing the equilibrium of in- 
fluence, as when the subject acts on himself, without ex- 
ternal aid. 

I -have not observed that a greater proportion of persons 
is affected one way than the other. Sometimes one method 
appears more successful, at other times the other. But this, 
so far as I have seen, depends on the more or less strict ful- 
filment of the conditions. I believe that if ten persons were 
tried singly, tete-a-tete with the operator, and with a sincere 
14 



158 EFFECTS OF SUGGESTION". 

wish to fulfil, fairly, the conditions, seven or eight would be 
affected in either way; and if more time were allowed, I have 
little doubt that all would be, sooner or later, influenced in 
some degree. 

It must be at once obvious to every person acquainted 
with physiology, that the peculiar phenomena now under 
consideration, and which occur in the conscious ordinary 
waking state, depend on the principle of suggestion. This 
principle has often been noticed ; but it was reserved for 
modern times, and for the cultivators of Animal Magnetism, 
to show how the phenomenon could easily be produced, in 
the utmost perfection, in a very large -proportion of man- 
kind, and thus to compel the universal admission of the 
truth. 

If we try to produce these effects on any one, by sugges- 
tion alone, we shall in all probability fail, unless we happen 
to light on a singularly susceptible subject. There are some, 
who, especially after having been once operated on, as above, 
can be, at any subsequent time, and without preparation, in- 
fluenced by the same operator. I am not aware that any 
are, or have been, so influenced for the first time, without 
the preliminary process ; but I consider it very probable, in 
certain cases. As a general rule, however, the preparation 
or preliminary process is required, at all events the first 
time, although it may now and then be afterwards dispensed 
with. 

The cause which produces the state in which suggestion 
becomes efficient, is, I think, identical, in the ordinary pro- 
cess, with the magnetic influence ; for, if pursued a little 
longer, it will cause the sleep, with its phenomena. I shall 
have, by and bye, to treat of this cause, and shall not here 
dwell on it. 

In Dr. Darling's preliminary process, the chief part of the 
work is done by the subject himself, through intense gazing 
at an object. Now we know, that in Mr. Braid's process, 
even the sleep is produced by the gazing of the subject at 
an object rather above and a little before his eyes. This 
gazing, therefore, since it produces the greater effect, natu- 
rally also produces the less, and thus Dr. Darling's process 
also is essentially the same as the ordinary one. 

But there is this difference, that both in Dr. Darling's and 
Mr. Braid's method, the operator does not, in producing the 



THE IMPRESSIBLE STATE. 159 

state in which suggestion acts, in the former, and the sleep 
in the latter case, direct his own magnetic or vital influence 
on the subject, as is done in the ordinary method. I speak 
here only of producing an impressible state ; for Dr. Dar- 
ling also uses to a certain extent, passes, touch, and gazing, 
the ordinary means, apparently to heighten the impression 
at first produced. 

Now, if we suppose, hypothetically, the peculiar state in 
any degree to consist in a disturbance of the natural equili- 
brium in the distribution of the nervous, vital, magnetic, or 
odylic force or influence in the patient's system, it plainly 
cannot be a matter of indifference how that equilibrium is 
disturbed. When the amount of force,, natural to the indi- 
vidual, is by his own act otherwise distributed than usually 
happens, if more be sent to the brain, or to any part of it, 
and less to the muscles or to the other viscera, or to the 
skin, the equilibrium is indeed disturbed, but no force is 
added. Whereas, when a foreign influence is thrown into 
the brain or any part of that organ, the equilibrium is also 
disturbed, but the other parts, while having, relatively, less 
of the influence, have, absolutely, as much as before. 

Hence the two states are not identical, although they 
agree in this, that in both, suggestion has the force of fact. 
And we shall see, that in the self-produced sleep of Mr. 
Braid there are very marked differences from that of ordi- 
nary Animal Magnetism. 

The phenomena of suggestion, then, whether produced 
by the usual method of Animal Magnetism, or by that of 
what is called electro-biology, are the same ; while there is, 
in all probability, a considerable difference in the state of 
the subject, according to the method employed ; w T hich dif- 
ference becomes more marked in the sleep and higher 
stages. 

The subject having been brought into the state above 
mentioned, is found to be under the control of the operator. 
He is accessible to, and so deeply influenced by, any sug- 
gestion made by the latter, that he finds it impossible to 
resist or counteract it. He is told that he cannot perform 
a certain act, and he forthwith loses the power of doing so. 
The muscles are so far, and no farther paralysed, as is 
necessary for the act. If that be, for example, to open the 
clenched fist, and drop an object which is grasped, he can 



160 CONTROL EXERCISED BY THE OPERATOR. 

move the arm up or down, backwards, forwards, and late- 
rally ; he can bend or extend it, &c. ; but his will no longer 
acts on the extensors of the fingers, and is powerless on 
these alone. Or, if he cannot tell his own name, it is not 
that he cannot speak, nor yet that he cannot tell any other 
name, but that he has lost the power of recalling that one 
object of memory. When he drinks water, and tastes it as 
if it were the strongest brandy, it is that the suggested im- 
pression quite overpowers the real natural one. Just as he 
can, at certain times, recall, by memory, the taste of brandy, 
or any other taste, although his mouth be empty, and many 
can do this very vividly, so when brandy is suggested to 
him, a similar, but still more vivid, secondary impression is 
excited, and overpowers the evidence of his palate. As I 
have already stated, the singular powder of suggestion has 
long been known as a fact rarely occurring, and presented, 
no doubt, when some patient had spontaneously fallen into 
the impressible state. But it is only of late years that we 
know, that this state may be produced at will, in a few 
minutes, on a large proportion of mankind ; and it is highly 
probable that all persons, with a little patience and perse- 
verance, may be brought into that state. We have, in this 
phenomenon, an additional proof of what I formerly stated, 
namely, that every leading fact in Animal Magnetism has 
occurred spontaneously, just because these facts depend on 
natural causes. 

5. It would appear, that many persons may be brought 
into the impressible conscious state, who cannot, or who 
cannot without great difficulty, be brought into the magnetic 
sleep. If this be so, then the process followed by Dr. Dar- 
ling and others, becomes at once of great practical value. 
For it is highly probable that the curative agency of mag- 
netism, even in the sleep, depends on the impressibility, 
which, as we have seen, is common to the sleep, and to the 
ordinary state of consciousness. This explains the often 
recorded fact, that many magnetic cures are performed with- 
out the occurrence of the sleep, or indeed of any very 
marked or unusual sensations. The patient is, to use a most 
barbarous expression, which I only do, in order to protest 
against it, biologised <; that is, he is only so far magnetised, 
as to be thrown into the impressible state. 

When we have seen the soundest natural sleep thus pro- 



SLEEP CAUSED BY GAZING. 161 

duced, in one minute, in persons who were actually, at the 
beginning of the minute, in convulsions of laughter, and in 
others who did their utmost to keep themselves awake ; 
when we have seen, in a person so perfectly conscious as to 
direct and dictate the experiments, one arm rendered, in- 
stantaneously, absolutely insensible to the most severe pain ; 
nay, when we have ourselves obtained these results, as I 
have done, we cannot possibly hesitate as to the practical 
value of the facts above described. 

6. Let us now attend, for a moment, to the hypnotism of 
Mr. Braid. I have had the pleasure of seeing that gentle- 
man operate, and I most willingly bear testimony to the 
accuracy of his description, and to the very striking results 
which he produces. 

Mr. Braid causes his patients or subjects to gaze steadily 
at an object, such as the knob of a pencil case, held a little 
above the eyes, and in front of the upper part of the fore- 
head. It would seem, that gazing in this strained position, 
very soon and easily produces the necessary disturbance of 
equilibrium in the peculiar influence, vital or magnetic, con- 
cerned in the result (to use the merely hypothetical term 
above employed). In a short, but variable time, a large 
proportion of the persons tried are not only affected, but 
put to sleep. Nay, there is, as I have proved on my own 
person, no plan so effectual in producing sleep when we find 
ourselves disposed, in spite of our wish to sleep, to remain 
awake in bed. Some persons have found reading, espe- 
cially the reading of certain tomes, the contents of which 
have a ponderous character, to possess a powerful soporific 
agency; and, in addition to the narcotic influence of the 
style or matter, it is highly probable that the concentration 
of mind necessary to penetrate through the copia verborum 
to the meaning, if any, contained in these literary anodynes, 
tends to produce a sleep, very likely magnetic. But let 
these persons try the experiment of placing a small bright 
object, seen by the reflection of a safe and distant light, in 
such a position that the eyes are strained a little upwards 
or backwards, and at such a distance as to give a tendency 
to squinting, and they will probably never again have re- 
course to the venerable authors above alluded to. A sweet 
and refreshing slumber steals over the senses; indeed, the 
sensation of falling asleep under these circumstances, as I 

14* 



162 MR. BRAID, BY HYPNOTISM 



have often experienced, is quite delightful ; and the sleep is 
calm and undisturbed, though often accompanied by dreams 
of an agreeable kind. Sir David Brewster, who, with more 
than youthful ardor, never fails to investigate any curious 
fact connected with the eye, has not only seen Mr. Braid 
operate, but has also himself often adopted this method of 
inducing sleep, and compares it to the feeling we have, when, 
after severe and long-continued bodily exertion, we sit or 
lie down, and fall asleep, being overcome, in a most agree- 
able manner, by the solicitations of Morpheus, to which, at 
such times, we have a positive pleasure in yielding, however 
inappropriate the scene of our slumbers. 

To return to Mr. Braid. His subjects, as I have seen, 
fall indeed into sleep ; but if tried, are found to be in a 
state of somnambulism or magnetic sleep. This would pro- 
bably also be found to be the case w T hen we put ourselves 
to sleep as above explained ; but we do not have it tried, 
our wish being to sleep. It is not, in fact, that the mag- 
netic sleep differs from ordinary sleep, as far as mere sleep- 
ing or restoration of the machine is concerned; but that 
the internal senses are awake, while the external senses and 
the bodily frame are drowned in oblivion. It is totally un- 
necessary to recapitulate here all the phenomena which are 
observed in the hypnotic sleep. Up to a certain point, 
they are the same as those of the ordinary magnetic sleep, 
so often already referred to. There is divided conscious- 
ness, closing of some of the senses, and, above all, subjec- 
tion to the will of the operator, or the impressible state, in 
which suggestion or command from him are omnipotent. 
Questions are readily answered, without the sleeper being 
awakened; and finally the curative effects are strongly 
manifested. So great is the power exercised by Mr. Braid, 
that feeble women, who were, moreover, in a great measure, 
deprived of the use of their limbs, can be made, while in 
the sleep, readily to walk, and, by frequent repetitions, are 
often restored to activity. In some cases, aided, I doubt 
not, by the energetic volition of Mr. Braid, the effects pro- 
duced in the first sitting continue, more or less, in the wak- 
ing state. In other cases, slender, delicate men, of small 
natural power, are made, in the sleep, to exert a muscular 
force superior to that of strong men; to raise, with one 



HAS NOT PRODUCED CLAIRVOYANCE. 163 

finger, weights which, if awake, they could not move with 
both hands, &c. &c. 

7. But it is remarkable that Mr. Braid has not produced, 
in his subjects, what are called the higher phenomena, espe- 
cially clairvoyance, so often met with by those who employ 
the ordinary magnetic process. 

Two hypotheses may be proposed to explain this fact. 
The first is, that Mr. Braid may be one of those persons 
who cannot produce these phenomena. There are mag- 
netisers, very successful in the treatment of disease, who 
produce profound sleep, yet never see clairvoyance in their 
own subjects. I have heard of some magnetisers who are 
in this predicament, although they have produced others of 
the higher phenomena. There is a great variety in the in- 
fluence of different magnetisers, insomuch, as I have already 
stated, that the impressions caused by some, on certain pa- 
tients, is distressing and intolerable, while that of others is 
pleasant and soothing. In like manner, it often happens that 
one operator can produce effects which another cannot suc- 
ceed in producing, and vice versa. 

The second is, that Mr. Braid's process, being one of self- 
magnetisation or auto-magnetism, as it has been called, may 
not produce certain powers, which would perhaps appear in 
the same cases under the influence of a different operation, 
even if performed by Mr. Braid himself. A series of com- 
parative trials can alone determine this point, and I hope 
that such trials may, ere long, be made. 

Mr. Braid, not having produced or seen clairvoyance, has 
gone so far as to deny its existence. I entertain the highest 
respect for Mr. Braid ; but I cannot help thinking he has 
here been too hasty in his conclusion. It was long before 
I myself saw the higher phenomena, and, on more than one 
occasion, I have mentioned this, when writing on the subject. 
But I did not feel warranted in rejecting the prodigious mass 
of evidence, much of it, to all appearance, unexceptionable, 
of their occurrence. My opportunities were limited, as I 
never had it in my power at all to study this subject either 
in London or in Paris ; while in Aberdeen and Edinburgh, 
in which cities I have lived since 1839, no clairvoyance 
occurred, for some years, within my reach. I was further 
under the impression, that I possessed little or no magnetic 
power, although I had frequently, in persons who had been 



164 IMPORTANCE OF PERSEVERANCE. 

already magnetised, and in some very susceptible subjects 
who had not previously been operated on, produced the sleep, 
insensibility to pain, and various forms of sympathy. I did 
not then know, practically, how much depended on patience 
and perseverance in these matters, and, not at once meeting 
with the higher phenomena, I hastily concluded that I could 
not produce them. I am now convinced, that had I perse- 
vered for a short time, some of these cases would have ex- 
hibited the finest phenomena, and I can only regret that I 
lost, through ignorance, opportunities so valuable. 

More recently, however, I have not only been enabled to 
see and, study these phenomena as produced by others, but 
also to produce them myself; and I can only urge once more, 
on all enquirers, the importance of time, patience, and per- 
severance in these researches. Without these, few will be 
fortunate enough to succeed ; with them, no one, of average 
power, need fail, (unless by nature incapable, as a few are, 
of producing certain results,) in obtaining evidence of very 
wonderful facts, and in acquiring a conviction of their in- 
terest and value, and of the necessity of thoroughly investi- 
gating them. 

That Mr. Braid has not met with clairvoyance is to be 
regretted ; but I entertain the confident hope, that even if 
he should not succeed in producing it himself, he will yet be 
enabled to see it produced by others. He has, I believe, 
produced the state of trance, and has, at all events, written 
a very interesting work on that subject. Now trance or ex- 
tasis is, in the opinion of all writers, so far as I know, a 
higher stage of the phenomena than clairvoyance, and many 
have not met with it in their own experience. But we must 
not forget that it is possible, that Mr. Braid's method may 
not induce the state of clairvoyance at all, a point which 
can only be decided by experiment. For my own part, I 
find it difficult to conceive that a person, who, -when put into 
the magnetic sleep in the usual way, becomes clairvoyant, 
will not present that power, if put to sleep by hypnotism. 
But an experiment of this kind, on a subject previously 
magnetised in the old way, would not be perfectly satisfac- 
tory, since many of them can be put into the full sleep by a 
variety of means, in a few seconds, without any notable ex- 
ertion of influence on the part of the operator, beyond tell- 
ing them to go to sleep in a certain way and in a certain 



THE FACTS OF MAGNETISM MUST BE INVESTIGATED. 165 

time, and thus we should run the risk of producing the ac- 
customed state, when we rather wished to see the new one. 
In fact, the facility with which many subjects, after hav- 
ing been brought fully under the influence, may be sent into 
the deepest sleep, is one of the most striking facts of the 
whole subject; and must be borne in mind when we would 
make such experiments. 



It appears, then, from what has been stated, that Electro- 
biology, Electro-psychology, and Hypnotism, are essentially 
the same with Animal Magnetism, although there is proba- 
bly some difference in the precise characters of the states 
produced. The former may, indeed, be regarded more pro- 
perly as parts of the latter, than in any other way. But it 
is nevertheless probable, that each may have some advan- 
tages and disadvantages, peculiar to itself. All of them 
should be diligently and carefully studied and investigated, 
with the firm conviction, that, like all other natural truths, 
they must prove beneficial to mankind ; and the more so, 
the better they are known. The danger, if danger there be, 
and I cannot, for my part, conceive the existence of a dan- 
gerous truth, lies, we may be assured, in ignorance, not in 
knowledge. " A little knowledge" has been said to be "a 
dangerous thing;" but why? because it is little. Make it 
more, and the danger diminishes ; if we could make it per- 
fect, no danger could possibly exist. 

You would do me great injustice, if you supposed that I 
propounded the facts contained in these Letters, as truths 
fully ascertained, or duly investigated, so as to be under- 
stood. On the contrary, I give them, simply, as facts, so 
attested and authenticated, that we cannot disregard them, 
least of all on the ground that they are incredible, or that 
they cannot be explained. They never can be either under- 
stood as facts, or explained in the way and degree in which 
other natural facts are explained or understood, unless they 
are thoroughly and scientifically investigated. When this 
shall have been done — and it is no easy task, no matter 
for an idle hour, or for an evening's entertainment, but a 
serious, important, and, above all, laborious work — we shall 
find that, in proportion as we advance in knowledge of these 
phenomena, they will lose the character of strangeness and 



166 THE SUBJECT BEGINS TO 

"supernaturality which to the ignorant they exhibit. They 
will arrange themselves under natural laws, whether known, 
or yet to be discovered, as the law of gravitation, which had 
acted from the creation, was discovered only about 200 
years ago by Newton. And they will be found, like all 
other natural facts, even those at first sight most unpromis- 
ing in this respect, to admit of a multitude of useful appli- 
cations. Man will benefit by this, as he has done by all 
other knowledge ; but we cannot expect, in this, the empiri- 
cal stage of the enquiry, when we are groping in the dark 
to find the facts, and can as yet discover no order or beauty 
in them, to be able to appreciate, worthily, the purpose of 
the Creator in giving to us that power of influencing each 
other, which is the essence of Animal Magnetism. 

My sole object is to convince those who still entertain 
doubts on the subject, that certain facts exist, which are 
worthy of the best and most earnest study Ave can bestow 
on them. My own observations have been directed solely 
to the ascertaining of some of these facts, and I make no 
pretensions to account for them. My desire is to promote 
scientific enquiry into the subject, not to present it as al- 
ready exhausted. And I shall feel amply rewarded for my 
labor, if one qualified person shall be induced, by what I 
have said, to devote his energies to the scientific prosecu- 
tion of the enquiry into Animal Magnetism. 



I have still to allude to the state of Trance or Extasis, 
one of the most striking, but of the rarer phenomena con- 
nected with this subject. I have not hitherto done this, 
because I have had no opportunity of personally examining 
the fact, and I wished, in the first instance, to confine my- 
self to such phenomena as I had been enabled for the most 
part to see, and in many instances to produce. But many 
phenomena remain, which I have not yet had the good for- 
tune to meet with ; and no doubt can be entertained, if we 
may judge from the results of other scientific investigations, 
such as those of Astronomy, Geology, Physiology, Optics, 
and Chemistry, that a rich harvest of new observations will 
reward those w T ho devote themselves to the cultivation of 
this boundless field of enquiry, with the means and appli- 
ances of scientific training, with the genuine and sincere 



ATTRACT ATTENTION. 167 

desire for truth, and a matter of almost equal importance, 
the leisure necessary for the full investigation of any branch 
of so extensive a subject. While I rejoice in having been 
early trained to habits of scientific study, and while I have 
endeavored, to the best of my power, to look at the subject 
of Animal Magnetism in the light of scientific research; 
while, moreover, I may claim to have approached the subject 
with a due dense of its importance, and as in other sciences, 
with, I trust, an earnest longing after the truth ; yet, occu- 
pied as I have ever been, with the cultivation and the 
teaching of a science which I chose from preference, and to 
which I daily feel more and more attached, I have not, and 
cannot expect to have, command of the requisite leisure for 
such an investigation as this. Had it been otherwise, I 
should long ago have done my utmost to prosecute the en- 
quiry ; and it is only by means of observations, made chiefly 
during the vacations, or when opportunities presented them- 
selves occasionally at other times, that I have been able 
even to jot down these imperfect sketches. All I can hope 
to accomplish, is to aid in stirring up to active research 
those who possess, and in a far higher degree than myself, 
the necessary qualifications ; and perhaps to assist younger 
observers in their efforts to advance; to enable them to 
know what to look for, and how to recognise the different 
phenomena. 

It is very gratifying to me to be able to say, that men of 
the highest ability, and already distinguished in various 
difficult branches of science, are now turning their atten- 
tion to this hitherto neglected subject ; and I have had the 
greatest pleasure in placing it in the power of some of these 
gentlemen to see phenomena, which I was sure, once seen, 
would never cease to interest them. And as Austria has 
produced a Reichenbach, who, by five years' incessant labor, 
has shed a flood of light on the phenomena of that influence 
which we must regard as the cause of vital magnetic effects, 
so we may hope, that Scotland, the country which first 
adopted and taught the doctrines of Newton, when he had 
no adherents in Oxford and Cambridge, may also produce 
men who shall raise the veil w T hich conceals the truths of 
Animal Magnetism. 

When men such as Sir David BreAvster, Sir W. C. Trc- 
velyan, Sir W. Hamilton, Dr. Simpson, Professor Forbes, 



168 TRANCE AND EXTASIS. 

Professor Bennett, and Professor Goodsir, — when men like 
these, veterans in science, though some of them are young 
in years, besides many others, have not only seen the facts, 
more or less extensively, but admit their importance, and 
have personally investigated into some of them, the time 
cannot be distant, when the subject of Animal Magnet- 
ism shall assume a truly scientific form. If I cannot con- 
tribute, in any degree, however small, to hasten that most 
desirable consummation, I shall ever feel grateful that I was 
led to devote a part of my spare time to the subject. 



LETTER X. 

I now proceed to describe, briefly, that state, or rather 
those states, which are often included under the name of 
Trance, or Extasis. I shall not attempt to go very fully 
into them, because I have not had an opportunity, such as 
I have had in regard to most of the phenomena hitherto 
described, either of seeing them, as produced by others, or 
of producing them myself; and, consequently, have not 
been enabled to compare with my own observations, the ac- 
counts given of the phenomena by those who have seen 
them. Bat as, in all cases in which I have thus been able 
to test the published accounts of magnetic phenomena, I 
have found a very great degree of accuracy and truthful- 
ness in the accounts given of the facts by the best observers 
and authors on the subject, I consider it but just to regard 
their account of the phenomena as accurate, until it shall 
be shown to be otherwise. 

1. The first observation I would make is, that it is neces- 
sary to distinguish two states; one in which we have the 
appearances of death, and which may be compared to the 
hybernation or torpid winter sleep of some animals ; the 
other, in which the subject enters, apparently, into a 
higher state or phase of existence, and is deeply interested, 
nay often absorbed by his contemplation of visions, or 
scenes of beauty and happiness so perfect, that, in compa- 
rison, the world, with all its luxuries, appears utterly worth- 



NATURAL TRANCE. 169 

less and insignificant. These two states have been con- 
founded by some writers, and the term trance applied to 
both, indiscriminately. And it cannot be denied that there 
is some analogy between them, and that, in one sense, both 
may be called trance, because, in both, the subject, as it 
were, leaves the world, or indeed may be said to leave life, 
for a time. We shall call the first state Trance, the other 
Extasis. 

2. Trance, or a torpid, apparently dead state, occurs 
spontaneously, and has been often recorded. In one re- 
markable case described in an early volume of the Philoso- 
phical Transactions, the patient, a laboring man at Tins- 
bury, continued in this state, with hardly an interruption, 
for many weeks. He took a little food only once or twice 
during the whole time, and did so mechanically, and, as it 
were, instinctively, without awaking. In the same way, he 
occasionally, but only at very long intervals, performed 
certain bodily functions. In short, he was, for almost the 
whole period, in a state closely resembling hybernation, in 
which, as is well known, the hybernating animal requires, 
and indeed can take, no food, and the animal heat is kept 
up, though at a temperature lower than the normal one of 
the waking state, by the consumption of the fat stored up 
in its tissues by the waking animal. He was deaf to all 
sounds, and never spoke, and when at last he awoke, he 
would not believe that he had slept more than usual till 
he saw the fields, which, when he went to sleep, were green, 
now ripe and yellow, ready for the sickle. Another similar 
case is recorded as having occurred lately in France. 

Such cases have in all ages been observed, and even re- 
corded; yet only a few years since, when the Tinsbury case 
was brought forward as a proof that a state of trance, in- 
cluding insensibility to pain, was possible, some of those 
who seemed resolved not to believe in the possibility of pain- 
less surgical operations, performed on persons in the mag- 
netic sleep, declared that the man must have been an im- 
postor. Yet there was no ground for this assertion, for the 
case excited much interest at the time, and was examined by 
several men of science, members of the Royal Society, who 
could not detect any imposture. 

That such an unconscious, torpid state is possible, has, 
moreover, been proved by the effects of accidents, as in the 
15 



170 MAGNETIC TRANCE. 

well-known case of the man, who, falling from the mast- 
head on the deck of a ship of war on the Mediterranean, 
fractured his skull, and lay for months in a perfectly uncon- 
scious state, eating and performing other necessary func- 
tions by a mechanical instinct, until he was trepanned, and 
the depression of the bone removed, in London, when his 
memory went back at once to the period of his fall, nor had 
he the slightest idea that any time had elapsed since the 
accident. 

We may see also, by the occurrence of such cases, either 
spontaneously from some unobserved affection of the nerv- 
ous system, or in consequence of accidents, that all the 
cases of the alleged power to do without food, or to sleep, 
for a long time, need not be supposed impostures. It is 
much more probable, that the occurrence of a genuine case, 
and the curiosity excited by it, as well as the profit derived 
from its exhibition to wondering crowds, may have led to its 
simulation, in some instances, with a view to gain. 

We may also see, in these facts, the origin of the oriental 
tales of sleepers, who, falling asleep in some cavern, have 
found, on awaking, a new world around them. It is evi- 
dent, that where one man had slept, were it only for a week 
or a month, and had awoke, unconscious of the lapse of 
time, this would infallibly grow, in the vivid Eastern fancy, 
to years and centuries of sleep. Here again we see, that 
the most incredible stories, if they have ever formed an ar- 
ticle of general belief, must have had some foundation in 
natural truth. 

3. Now the same state is said to occur, and this, on ap- 
parently good testimony, as a result of magnetic processes, 
and, at all events, artificially produced ; as, indeed, we 
might naturally expect, if it occur spontaneously. I need 
not here enter into details, for the appearances are the 
same as above described, in the natural trance. I would 
only say, that they are described, by those who have seen 
them, as occurring in a high or deep stage of the magnetic 
sleep. The magnetic trance must be carefully distinguished 
from the ordinary magnetic sleep, which has usually a short 
duration, and in which the sleeper is conscious, although 
not in his ordinary consciousness, and speaks or thinks, or 
acts accordingly. But in the trance, he is apparently un- 
conscious, and it may last much longer. Some subjects 



TRANCE PRODUCED AT WILL. 171 

would appear to have a much greater tendency to fall into 
this trance than others, and this, also, might be anticipated 
from analogy. Of the fact there can be no rational doubt, 
but for the reasons above given, I do not enter into a full 
or minute description of it. 

4. It has long been known, but little attended to, that 
certain persons have had the power of producing, in them- 
selves, at pleasure, this state of trance, or partially sus- 
pended animation. Mr. Braid, in an interesting little work 
lately published, has collected the most satisfactory evidence 
on this point. He has quoted the recorded case of Col. 
Townsend, who often threw himself into this state of appa- 
rent death, nay, who did so in the presence of medical and 
scientific men, who found his pulse and respiration to cease, 
and were really alarmed, lest they should not return, and 
real death ensue. But Col. T., after a certain time, gradu- 
ally awoke to life ; the heart began to throb, the lungs to 
play, and full vitality was soon restored. 

Mr. Braid has also given, on the authority of Sir C. 
Wade, and other gentlemen of the highest character, who 
had seen the fact in India, several thoroughly attested cases 
of Faquirs, who made a profession, somewhat religious in 
its character, of throwing themselves into a perfect trance, 
and allowing themselves, in this state, to be enclosed in a 
coffin, and buried for periods of several days or even weeks. 
These cases leave no room for doubt as to the fact ; and 
the falling asleep, as well as the waking, after certain fric- 
tions and bathings had been employed, are described in a 
manner which is truly natural and convincing. 

As we have seen, that the action of a subject on himself, 
that is, the great concentration of his mind on one object, 
can produce, not only the impressionable state, necessary 
for experiments on suggestion, but also magnetic sleep, as 
in what are called Electro-biology and Hypnotism, we may 
reasonably conjecture, that, in such cases as those of Col. 
Townsend, and of the Faquirs, the trance also is produced 
by auto-magnetism, and by a rare degree of the concentra- 
tive power. It is possible, that in some instances, as for 
example in that of Col. T., this may be aided by a peculiar 
power of checking the heart's action, which hardly any one 
possesses. 

Such experiments, notwithstanding the resuscitation of 



172 EXTASIS. 

the Faquirs, cannot be considered devoid of danger; and, 
therefore, while I would gladly embrace any opportunity of 
studying the phenomenon, should it occur spontaneously in 
a magnetic case, I should not think it justifiable to try to 
produce it. I have seen the heart's action so affected, by a 
magnetiser, at the earnest desire of the subject, and for the 
edification of certain sceptical gentlemen, that the pulse 
rose to 200 beats in a minute, or rather, became so frequent 
that it could not be counted, while it became, as it rose in 
frequency, so feeble as hardly to be felt. I have seen sick- 
ness and fainting thus produced, and it is possible that the 
fainting may have been a trance. But I could not bring 
myself, either to try such experiments, or to countenance 
them again, after seeing the effect produced. 

5. With regard to the state of Extasis, it is of compara- 
tively rare occurrence, and this, perhaps, because it is not 
looked for, or because magnetisers do not seek to produce 
it. It agrees with trance, in the complete separation from 
ordinary life, and even, in some cases, in the existence of 
danger, if pushed too far. M. Cahagnet has stated that he 
has seen cases which convinced him, that if prolonged a 
little longer, death might have ensued. I have never seen 
this peculiar state, nor tried to produce it ; but, as already 
mentioned, I have seen, in the ordinary magnetic sleep, a 
state supervene, obviously different, and apparently higher, 
in which the subject was intensely happy, and complained 
bitterly of being brought back to this dull, wretched, every- 
day life. This is a feature of Extasis, and therefore it is 
probable that, if we were to try, such subjects might be 
rendered ecstatic. Nevertheless, I should hesitate before 
trying the experiment, since I regard it as not altogether 
free from danger. 

6. Extasis, as well as trance, has often been recorded as 
a spontaneous occurrence, usually in females, of a highly 
excitable temperament, and affected with hysteria or other 
nervous disease, and under the influence of intense religious 
or devotional excitement. Such a person is called, an " Es- 
tatica," and many such "Estatice" have been described. 
These stories have been rejected, off-hand, as mere impos- 
tures ; but we must beware of supposing that all is imposture 
in them, even where the patients have come into the hands 



RELIGIOUS ECSTATICS. 173 

of persons willing to use them, either for purposes of gain, 
or in order to promote certain religious opinions. 

The "Estatice 5 ' see visions, of saints or angels, perhaps 
of heaven, and describe these visions in glowing colors. 
Now, granting that these are, as is probably often the case, 
mere dreams, the nature of which has been dictated by the 
priest, or suggested by reading, there is nothing in this to 
justify the charge of imposture. A highly susceptible pa- 
tient, whether in the magnetic sleep or not, may be made, 
as in the experiments on suggestion, to see anything that 
the operator, in this case the priest, suggests or commands. 
He, on the other hand, is perhaps aware of his power ; as 
some priests are, who, from the study of forgotten books, 
and by tradition in their monasteries, possess a knowledge of 
Animal Magnetism, and have practised it in secret, since 
it is regarded, by the decree of the Church, as allied to 
magic, if not identical with it. His strong convictions may 
lead him, innocently, to suggest to the estatica precisely 
what he wishes to find true ; and she sees his patron saint, 
the holy Virgin, or any other saint, in a form as real to her, 
as are the fancied objects to Mr. Lewis's or Dr. Darling's 
subjects. If she is desired to see and describe heaven or 
hell, she sees that of the priest, or of her books, and, of 
course, finds in the former all the orthodox, in the latter all 
heretics, according to his or her own views. 

All this, and a great deal more, may occur quite honestly: 
but it is not wonderful, if an ignorant and superstitious 
priest, of whatever denomination, engaged, perhaps in a 
fierce controversy on some mysterious point, should, now 
and then, avail himself of his influence over his patient, or 
of her delusions, in a way that indicates more zeal than 
honesty. 

But the estatica herself is usually sincere. And, to show 
that in these spontaneous cases we have to do with the same 
unknown cause as that which produces the more usual phe- 
nomena of Animal Magnetism, I may mention, that these 
patients are generally also somnambulists, or exhibit, spon- 
taneously, the other effects, observed in the lower stages of 
Animal Magnetism. It is highly probable that their visions 
are frequently the results of real clairvoyance, which many 
of them possess, in so far, at least, as regards the visions 
which refer to natural objects and persons. But such cases, 

15* 



174 LUMINOUS EMANATIONS. 

interesting as tliey undoubtedly are, have not been studied 
scientifically. 

One of the statements most frequently made with regard 
to such cases, is, not only that the patients see luminous 
appearances proceeding from objects or from the persons 
present, but that they themselves exhibit a luminous appear- 
ance, often described as a halo or glory round the head. I 
am not prepared to reject this as altogether imaginary. 
Baron von Reichenbach has proved, that luminous pheno- 
mena, visible in the dark to the sensitive, who are far from 
rare, proceed from all objects, more or less brightly, and 
especially from the head and hands of human beings. Some 
are so sensitive in the waking state, as to see these emana- 
tions even in day-light ; and somnambulists almost always do 
so, as already mentioned. Now, if we suppose a greatly 
excited state of the nervous system to intensify these lumi- 
nous appearances, they may be observed in the patients, by 
such among those who approach them as are more or less 
sensitive, even in day-light, and by many more in the dark. 
The appearance, once seen, and regarded as miraculous, 
will not, probably, be very soberly described, and may have 
been much exaggerated. 

Here it must not be forgotten, that it has been recorded, 
among others, by Sir Henry Marsh, that dying persons 
often exhibit such a halo : and it may be regarded as a 
universal belief, that dying persons often acquire the power 
of seeing what may be called visions, but which are, most 
probably, the effects of clairvoyance. 

Let us not, then, rashly pronounce all ecstatic3 to be 
impostors, but rather investigate the phenomena. I would 
not even rashly decide on the falsehood of the apparent 
suspension, or rather counteraction, of the law of gravity, 
asserted to have been observed in such cases, as well as in 
the celebrated one of the Seeress of Prevorst, and in which 
the patient is said to have remained for a short period, sus- 
pended in the air, without support. There appear to be 
facts, in artificial magnetism, which, if confirmed, would 
warrant us in admitting this to be possible. I allude to the 
strange attraction exercised on the subject by the magnetiser, 
which, in cases where the patient was extremely susceptible, 
and the magnetiser very powerful, is said to have occasion- 
ally reached the point of raising the former from the floor, 



EXTASIS OFTEN PREDICTED. 175 

in opposition to gravity, and of preventing him from falling, 
in positions in which he could not otherwise have remained 
for an instant. 

7. With regard to Extasis, as occurring in the course of 
experiments on Animal Magnetism, it must be regarded in 
so far as artificial, that it occurs as a consequence of these 
experiments, and would probably, in most cases, not occur 
without them. Still, as those in whom they occur, even 
although healthy, are the most sensitive to all magnetic or 
odylic influences, extasis, as we have seen, does occur spon- 
taneously. And even in the course of magnetic experiments 
or magnetic treatment, it usually comes unsought, perhaps 
always the first time, although the subject may sometimes 
become able to induce it at will. 

When it occurs in a subject, fortunate enough to be in 
the hands of a judicious magnetiser, who does not thrust 
his notions on the subject, but leaves the ecstatic to tell his 
own story, it certainly offers very remarkable phenomena, 
whatever interpretation be put upon them. 

The patient, or the healthy subject, will often predict 
with great accuracy, and a long time before the extasis, 
the day, hour, and minute of its occurrence. E., formerly 
spoken of, did so two years ago, with regard to one remark- 
able extasis of hers, and I believe also predicted several 
less striking since that time. As I write, I am in hourly 
expectation of hearing the details of a second great, or 
strongly marked extasis, which she has for some time fixed, 
in the magnetic sleep, for Jan. 8th ; I shall, if permitted, 
give some account of it in Part II. E., in her waking 
state, is not aware of her own prediction, which of course 
is not spoken of to her, or indeed to any one, except my- 
self and one or two others, who are much interested in 
the result. 

In the very remarkable work of M. Cahagnet, already 
alluded to, there is an account of a most remarkable clair- 
voyante, who could at pleasure, and with the permission and 
aid of her magnetiser, pass into the highest stage of extasis, 
in which she described herself as ineffably happy, enjoying 
converse with the whole spiritual world, and herself so en- 
tirely detached from this sublunary scene, that she not only 
had no wish to return to it, but bitterly reproached M. Ca- 
hagnet for forcing her back to life. On one occasion, at 



176 THE EXTATIC SOMNAMBULISTS 

her urgent request, he allowed her to enjoy that state longer 
than usual. But he took the precaution of placing another 
very lucid clairvoyant, a young lad, en rapport with her, 
with strict orders to watch her closely. She seemed at first 
unconscious, hut by degrees her body assumed an alarming 
aspect, became to appearance dead, that is, was in the tor- 
pid trance, like that of the Faquirs, pulseless, cold, and de- 
void of respiration. The lad, who kept his eye (the in- 
ternal vision of clairvoyance,) on her, at last exclaimed, 
" she is gone! I see her no longer !" M. Cahagnet then, 
after much fruitless labor, and not until, as he informs us, 
he had prayed fervently to be enabled to restore her to life, 
succeeded in re-establishing warmth and respiration. The 
girl, on waking, overwhelmed him with reproaches for what 
he r had just done, and could not be pacified till he succeeded in 
convincing her, she being a young woman of pious charac- 
ter and good feeling, that what she desired amounted to 
suicide, and was a grievous crime, for which he would be 
held responsible. 

Various other examples of this form of extasis are men- 
tioned in the work of M. Cahagnet, to which I refer the 
curious reader. M. Cahagnet is since dead, or I should 
have endeavored to see his experiments ; he was an opera- 
tive, who seems to have been possessed of excellent abili- 
ties, and to have made his observations with great care. 
His subjects exhibited clairvoyance in its most perfect forms, 
and most, or all, of them also passed into extasis, in which 
they described the spiritual world. Indeed, this is the dis- 
tinguishing feature of extasis ; and the extreme form above 
described, where the body assumes the aspect of death, as 
in trance, is very rare. In general the ecstatics, as in the 
cases of M. Cahagnet, and in that of E., describe minutely 
all they see and feel. 

Now there can be no doubt that M. Cahagnet was an en- 
thusiast, in the genuine and good sense of the term, in re- 
ference to this subject, and no wonder, when such facts were 
presented to him. But I can see no reason, in his book, 
to suppose that his enthusiasm in any way affected his in- 
tellect. Many are ready to imagine without enquiry, that 
the visions of his ecstatics, concerning the spiritual world, 
are only dreams, the character of which is determined by 
his views on the subject, and hence the remarkable agree- 



OF M. CAHAGNET. 177 

ment which in general exists between the statements of his 
different ecstatics. Such was the view which first offered 
itself to my own mind. But I am very averse to deciding 
such questions without enquiry, and on reading further and 
more attentively, I found that this view would not apply to- 
all the facts recorded. Indeed, if on some points the ecsta- 
tics expressed views and opinions in accordance with his, in 
many others they not only differed from him, but pertina- 
ciously held their own opinions, and the result finally was, 
that he adopted, and says he was compelled to adopt, no- 
tions in regard to the spiritual world, entirely opposed to 
his former views, which seem to have been materialistic. 

I do not propose, in such a work as this, the object of 
which is chiefly to record my own observations, to enter 
fully into such matters as these, of which I have no expe- 
rience. But I have thought it right to mention the subject, 
and to refer to the work of M. Cahagnet, which will be 
found very interesting by all those who wish to penetrate, 
as far as is permitted, into the mysteries of the world of 
spirits. If there be a spiritual world at all, and such is the 
almost universal belief of mankind, it is at least possible, 
that the revelations of ecstatics may be more or less true, 
just as they may be supposed to be mere dreams. I con- 
fess that what most strongly affects my mind, and deters 
me from assuming the latter hypothesis, until I shall have 
been enabled to study the phenomena of Extasis, is the sin- 
gular harmony between the visions of different ecstatics, 
between those, for example of E., and those of M. Cahag- 
net's subjects. I may add, that Dr. Haddock, in whose 
house E. lives, and who has described the phenomena of 
her case, is a gentleman of cool and reflecting mind, a good 
observer, and besides, as I know from experience, a most 
judicious and prudent magnetiser. And I can also state, 
having, by his kindness, been permitted to study his inte- 
resting clairvoyante, although not in the extatic stage, at 
my leisure, and in his absence, as well as when he was pre- 
sent, that she is a genuinely honest, truthful, and intelligent 
girl, although she has not had the advantages of even a 
common education. I have, therefore, no reason to doubt 
the facts as described by Dr. Haddock, any more than 
those given by M. Cahagnet and others, whatever may 
hereafter prove to be their true nature. 



178 THE SPIRITUAL WORLD. 

If the visions of magnetic ecstatics be nothing but dreams, 
then, as described by the observers of such cases, they must 
be regarded as dreams of a very remarkable and peculiar 
character, and they are found, in different cases, very closely 
to resemble each other in their general or essential pecu- 
liarities. The ecstatics find themselves (and this is said by 
all, whether educated or not, and, so far as I can see, not 
only without prompting on the part of the magnetiser, but 
very often to his great surprise, and sometimes contrary to 
his belief,) in communication with the spiritual world. 
They hold long conversations with spirits, to whom they 
often give names, and who, in many cases, according to 
their account, are the spirits of departed friends or relations. 
The remarks and answers of these visionary beings are 
reported by the ecstatics. Some of them affirm that every 
man has an attendant good spirit, perhaps also an evil one 
of inferior power. Some can summon, either of themselves 
or with the aid of their attendant spirit, the spirit or vision 
of any dead relation or friend, and even of persons also 
dead, whom neither they nor the magnetiser have ever seen, 
whom perhaps no one present has seen; and the minute 
descriptions given in all these cases, of the persons seen or 
summoned, is afterwards found to be correct. Many other 
details, some of them still more astounding are given, but, 
for the reason already given, I confine myself here, to a 
brief general indication of the strange phenomena of Ex- 
tasis, which, be it remembered, I have not myself had an 
opportunity of observing. 

Now, certainly such visions as these, whatever be their 
real nature, are not ordinary dreams. It is idle to reject 
them as altogether imaginary, and illogical to do so without 
enquiry. And I repeat, that all those who believe in the 
existence of a spiritual world, must feel that they may pos- 
sibly contain revelations of it. 

The belief in the existence of the world of spirits is as 
old as mankind ; and the belief that men are, in certain cir- 
cumstances, capable of entering into communication with it, 
it is not much less venerable. It has been the favorite dream 
of philosophers, poets, and divines, in all ages, and there- 
fore, without venturing to pronounce dogmatically, I would 
say to all, observe, study, reflect and examine, before coming 
to a decision on this mysterious subject. It is easy to say 



THE POUGHKEEPSIE SEER. 179 

that Swedenborg was a mad enthusiast ; but it is not the 
less certain, that he was a man of prodigious ability and 
learning, thoroughly familiar with the science of his day ; 
and the most striking circumstance, in my opinion, con- 
nected with magnetic ecstatics is, that they agree in very 
many points with Swedenborg ; and that this agreement is 
found to occur precisely in regard to those things which we 
are accustomed to regard in him, as the products of an in- 
sane enthusiasm. It is observed, moreover, in ignorant per- 
sons, who have never even heard of the name and opinions 
of the Swedish philosopher. 

I do not here refer to the case of the Poughkeepsie Seer, 
Andrew Jackson Davis. I think there can be no doubt, 
that his revelations, which present an appalling hotch-potch 
of all possible metaphysical systems, are essentially the 
genuine results of a most remarkable degree of magnetic 
sympathy with all who approach him, which leads him to 
retail, as they are imaged in his own mind, the hetero- 
geneous opinions and ideas of such as act upon him, un- 
known to themselves, and have read and thought upon me- 
taphysical subjects. 

There are, I believe, cases of Extasis, not disturbed by 
this kind of sympathy, and such cases are well worthy of 
and will richly reward the most diligent and attentive in- 
vestigation. 

In my next Letter, I shall go on to those facts connected 
with the excitement and manifestation of individual mental 
faculties, which have been called by some, with not a happy 
selection of terms, Phreno-mesmerism, or Phreno-magnet- 
ism. I have already very briefly alluded to the fact that 
the mental faculties may be roused into action, in a person 
who is in the magnetic sleep, in a variety of ways. I now 
propose to examine this matter somewhat more fully. 



LETTER XL 

1. When certain subjects are thrown into the magnetic 
sleep, it is found, on trial, that by touching certain parts of 



180 PHRENOLOGY. 

the head, marked, and sometimes violent, manifestations of 
certain mental faculties occur. It is further observed that 
these manifestations correspond, in their nature, to the part 
of the head touched, on the principles of Phrenology. This 
has been proclaimed by some as a convincing proof of the 
truth of Phrenology, and by others either rejected, because 
it seemed to favor that science, or it has been ascribed to 
other causes, entirely independent of the cerebral organs of 
the Phrenologist. Both parties appear to me to have been 
hasty in their conclusions : for the phenomena may, and do 
occur, occasionally, in such a way as not necessarily to 
prove the truth of the organology of Gall, while, on the 
other hand, cases are met with in which we cannot, I think, 
explain the facts except on the hypothesis of Gall, that 
every mental faculty, whether it be a propensity, a senti- 
ment, or an intellectual aptitude, is dependent for its mani- 
festation in this life, on a certain portion of the brain.. 

2. This is not the place for a discussion of the truths of 
Phrenology, even if these were less generally adopted and 
felt to be true than they are. In spite of the storm of 
abuse which was showered on Gall and Spurzheim as quacks 
and impostors, their anatomy of the brain is now universally 
admitted to be the best, and their mode of dissecting it the 
only good one; and their view of the constitution of the 
mental faculties, considered by itself, as well as their classi- 
fication, are regarded as eminently practical, and at least 
equal to those of any other metaphysician. Men see that 
those who have thus distinguished themselves as investiga- 
tors in Anatomy and as thinkers in Mental Philosophy, are 
not likely to have been quacks, and still less impostors. 
And even their organology, after so short an interval as 
barely half a century, is no longer regarded as absurd, but, 
on the contrary, its ideas pervade our conversation and 
literature, and even its language is employed, as singularly 
precise and convenient, by writers of every class. Phre- 
nology has passed through the first stage of violent opposi- 
tion, in which it was decried as a mischievous novelty ; it 
has even passed through the second, in which, as invariably 
happens with new truths, it was declared, by those who had 
at first denounced it as new, to be old and well known; and 
it will soon be generally not only admitted, but taught as 
true science. The late Lord Jeffrey, in an article on the 



REAL ORIGIN OF GALL'S SYSTEM. 181 

subject in the Edinburgh Review, boldly scouted it in every 
aspect, and fulminated the memorable dictum, that "there 
is not the smallest reason to suppose that the brain is con- 
cerned in any mental process, save only the perceptions 
derived from the external senses !" a statement which, even 
at that time, must have appeared ludicrously absurd, and a 
proof of the grossest ignorance, to all acquainted with either 
physiology or mental philosophy; not to speak of those who 
could see what daily passed around them, and who saw the 
effects of a blow on the head, or an apoplexy, on all the 
mental powers without exception ; or who know that idiots 
have commonly either singularly small or else misshapen 
and diseased heads, and that there is no instance on record 
of any one whose head measured less than fourteen inches 
in its greatest circumference, who possessed human faculties 
and intelligence at all, while yet many such unfortunates 
have lived, or rather vegetated, possessed of a few animal 
instincts and of the external senses. Nay, I may go much 
further, and say that few, if any, are now to be found who 
doubt that a well-formed head, that is, brain, is desirable ; 
or who will deny that a full, high, broad forehead indicates 
superior intellect ; that a large base and posterior part of 
the head indicates powerful animal propensities, and that a 
full development of the coronal region is somehow connected 
with refined, virtuous, and religious feelings. These three 
great regions are admitted by most people, but they hesitate 
at what they call the small details of the organology ; they 
imagine Gall to have invented these, and to have, of his own 
fancy, subdivided the three regions, which they suppose to 
have been generally admitted before his time, into those 
smaller mappings, which to some are so great a stumbling- 
block. Such is a very common notion of Phrenology. 

But that notion is not only unfounded, it is the direct re- 
verse of the truth. The three great regions of the brain 
were not admitted before Gall's time. Some authors had 
done, what he did not ; they had arbitrarily mapped out the 
head, not from observation, but from fancy. Some of these 
cranial maps are extant, and one exhibits the intellect lo- 
cated in the occiput. And even Gall himself did not at first 
recognise or admit the intellectual, animal, and moral regions. 
It was only after he had, by observation and comparison, 
pursued with unwearied diligence for years, detected the 
16 



182 EFFECTS OF TOUCHING THE HEAD 

connection of the powers of certain isolated feelings, propen- 
sities, and talents, and of their absence or deficiency, with 
the more or less perfect development of certain parts of the 
brain, indicated externally by the corresponding parts of the 
head, that he was at last struck with the fact, that the or- 
gans of certain allied feelings, &c, were allied in position 
also ; that the groups of the domestic feelings, of the observ- 
ing powers, of the reflecting faculties, and of the higher sen- 
timents, were represented by groups of organs associated 
together in place. Hence the idea, which belongs to Gall, 
of the three great regions. His march was precisely the 
reverse of what is often attributed to him. It was strictly 
inductive ; and the details of mapping, which are often de- 
nied and rejected as purely arbitrary, were actually the first 
observed, and furnished the evidence for the existence of 
those great regions, which are admitted by those who reject 
the details, and are, indeed, instinctively felt to be true, 
when pointed out. 

Such being the case, it is not unreasonable to anticipate 
the universal reception of Phrenology in the course of 
another half century or another generation. I may safely 
hazard the prediction, that the Edinburgh Review will not 
venture again to issue the anti-physiological dictum above 
referred to. Should it do so, the merest tyro among its 
readers would laugh it to scorn. The lamented author, who 
fell into so gross an error, (which, by the way, was not, so 
far as I know, reprehended, or even noticed, by any physi- 
ologist, except the phrenologists,) when he ventured into 
regions previously unexplored by him, announced, in the 
same article, his intention, if at the end of ten years from 
that date, phrenology should still survive, to annihilate it 
once more. At the end of the ten years, with the inconve- 
nient tenacity of life exhibited by all truths, physiological or 
metaphysical, or of any other kind, phrenology was more 
rampant than ever, and as we have seen, it continues to 
exist. 

" The thane of Cawdor lives ; a prosperous gentleman ;" 

and phrenology still awaits the coup de grace, for that pro- 
mise was never fulfilled. 

3. As I admit the fundamental doctrines of phrenology, 
without imagining so new a science to be perfect or com- 
plete, I am quite prepared to find it confirmed in the mag- 



IN THE MAGNETIC SLEEP. 183 

netic sleep, as it is in the waking state. Let us now see 
what the facts are. 

In some magnetic sleepers, if we touch with the finger any 
given part of the head, such, for example, as the organ of 
Tune, or of Self-Esteem, without a word of suggestion, we 
instantly obtain a corresponding manifestation. It is really, 
in many cases, like touching the keys of an organ (in the 
other sense of the word) when the bellows are full of wind, 
and the sound instantly follows. If Tune be the organ 
touched, the subject forthwith breaks into song. If it be 
Self-Esteem, he throws back his head, struts with immense 
dignity, and declares himself superior to the rest of man- 
kind. Touch the organ of Love of children, and he dandles 
an imaginary babe, with most paternal affection. Touch 
Benevolence, the expression changes to that of compassion ; 
his hand is thrust into his pocket, and held forth with all his 
store. Touch Acquisitiveness, the griping miser instantly 
appears, and with appropriate look and speech, the money 
is restored to its original receptacle ; it is well if the nearest 
object, however bulky, be not also " boned," to use a slang 
but expressive phrase. If Caution be the stop touched, the 
music is the most distressing, nay, often appalling pantomime 
of fear, or of misery. But if Hope be played on, the clouds 
vanish, and joyous sunshine gilds every feature. Such are 
a few of the effects produced. I speak of but a small part 
of what I have often seen, and often produced. It is unne- 
cessary to say that I have done so in cases where no decep- 
tion was or could be practised. The question is rather, How 
are these effects produced ? 

4. There are two theories ; the first supposes them to be 
the mere results of the operator's will, or of sympathy with 
him; the second believes them to be the genuine results of 
the effect of the touch in exciting the subjacent cerebral 
organs. 

I believe that both are true ; that is, that some cases 
may be explained on the first theory, but that other cases 
exist, in which it does not suffice ; the second alone can be 
adopted in these. 

There can, I think, be no doubt, that in some cases the 
will of the operator is almost omnipotent. Even in the 
conscious impressible state of Mr. Lewis, or in that of Dr. 
Darling, precisely similar effects are produced by suggestion. 



184 CASES IN WHICH SYMPATHY 

The subject, if told that he is Father Mathew, delivers a 
lecture on temperance ; if desired to sing or spout, he does 
so ; if persuaded that he is ruined, he exhibits in perfection 
the pantomime of despair, and so on, as I have often seen. 
And as I have also seen many effects, of all kinds, produced 
by the silent will, I cannot doubt that it is, in some cases, 
capable of replacing suggestion. Besides, to a person ac- 
quainted with phrenology, the suggestion may be conveyed 
by touching a particular part of the head. I confess that 
I think that this last explanation, although certainly possi- 
ble, can apply, at most, to a very few persons ; for on trial, 
I seldom find any one, not a professed and practical phreno- 
logist, who can point out the position of the phrenological 
organs, with any degree of accuracy, even among those who 
admit phrenology to be true. 

Further, the manifestations can be often called out, not 
only by suggestion, but by touching other parts of the body 
than the head, and that, in cases where perhaps touching 
the head, as often happens, has no effect. Some have endea- 
vored to show, that touching a particular part of the arm, 
leg, or trunk, is followed by the same manifestation at all 
times and in all cases ; but I have not seen any good evi- 
dence of this. Mr. Lewis informs me, that in cases in which 
he can produce such effects by the will, he can do so, what- 
ever part he touches, and can call out the same faculty by 
touching many different parts. His will, as I have already 
mentioned, is singularly powerful. 

As to sympathy, it is necessary in so far, as it is a con- 
dition indispensable to the successful exercise of the will. 
But no one who has ever seen these beautiful manifestations, 
which are invaluable, from their truth and beauty, to the 
intelligent artist, can suppose that the state of the subject 
is a mere refle-xion of the operator's mind. For while the 
latter is tranquil, the former may be heaving with emotion ; 
and, as I have seen, accidental emotions in the operator 
are, very often, not communicated to the subject, who may 
be an excellent one, and is perhaps acting some passion or 
feeling to the life, when the operator becomes convulsed 
with laughter, &c, and yet he is not thereby affected 
at all. 

I therefore admit, nay I maintain, that there are many 
cases, in which suggestion, or the will of the operator, or 



AND SUGGESTION DO NOT ACT. 185 

sympathy with him, will suffice to explain the occurrence of 
the facts. 

6. But there are other cases, in which this explanation 
does not apply. And I would again remark, that I have 
taken all precautions to avoid the possibility of deception. 

First, the subject is often unacquainted with the very 
name of Phrenology, and ignorant of the position of a single 
organ. Yet he will, if a good case, respond to the touch 
instantly wherever it may be made, just as where will is the 
agent. 

But secondly, when the operator is himself, as often hap- 
pens, as ignorant of phrenology as the patient, he is sur- 
prised and confounded at the results, because, when touching 
a part, he knew not its function, and therefore had no 
volition on the matter at all. Yet here also, as I have 
seen, the manifestation will often come out as well as before. 
Nay, the pressure of a chair, or of the wall, on a part of 
the head, will sometimes, when quite accidental, as well as 
the accidental touch of a hand or arm, whether of the ope- 
rator or not, produce the same effects. Indeed, it often 
happens, that when an operator who knows phrenology, 
intends to touch one organ, and, turning to speak to some 
one, touches a wrong organ, with the idea of the first in his 
mind, or when his hand slips from one, organ to another, he 
is surprised at what appears a wrong result, till he detects 
the cause of it, and all this in cases, where the subject has 
no idea whatever of phrenology. 

Thirdly, it frequently happens, that the operator, when 
touching an organ, either does not know what manifestation 
to expect, or possibly expects one, and yet an admirable 
manifestation is the result, different from any he had 
imagined. Thus, in trying a number of organs, I had no 
idea what to expect from that of weight, which is believed 
to give the sense of resistance, and to aid in preserving the 
balance. I tried on two subjects, both seated, and I took 
no time to consider what would be the result. The first 
drew himself up from a stooping posture, into a perfectly 
upright one, with a deep sigh. With this in my mind, I 
tried the other, but he immediately leaned forward, his face 
assumed an expression of horror, and he screamed out that 
he was falling into a bottomless abyss. Both manifestations 
belong to the faculty, but most certainly neither was ex- 

16* 



186 COMBINED MANIFESTATIONS. 

pected by me. When I tried, in the second case, the organ 
of Size, the subject instantly spoke of an elephant, 40 feet 
high, which he saw, " a big black beastie," as he, being an 
Aberdonian, called it at first, with that intense delight in 
diminutive terms, which characterises the natives of Bon 
Accord. I had formerly seen the same faculty manifested 
in the form of the perception of vast distance, one of its 
functions being to observe distance, and was expecting that, 
rather than the " beastie." I might give other examples, 
but I refrain. 

Fourthly : when I tried the combination of two or more 
organs, touched at once, combined manifestations came out, 
as quickly as the single ones, and before I could even con- 
jecture what was likely to ensue. Thus, when I touched 
Acquisitiveness and Benevolence at once, in a subject in 
whom both came out well separately, he began discoursing 
to an imaginary beggar, with his hand in his pocket, which 
however he could not prevail on himself to extract from 
thence, concerning the duty of assisting the poor by 'good 
advice, and by taking trouble about them, rather than by 
giving money. In another subject, I obtained, accidentally, 
a very fine combination, indicating at the same time, that 
the excitement produced by touch lasts for a certain time, 
which is longer in some cases than in others. When Vene- 
ration was excited, the subject exhibited a beautiful picture 
of devotion. He knelt and prayed, with a fervor and in- 
tensity of expression which it would be difficult to surpass. 
Humility was intensely predominant in his gesture. When 
Self-esteem was touched, the organ being large, he exhibit- 
ed pride and hauteur to a most ludicrous degree, and this 
faculty was kept excited for a time. At this moment a 
gentleman entered the room, who anxiously desired to 
witness the manifestation of humble devotion. I therefore 
touched Veneration, being firmly convinced that I should 
obtain, as I had frequently done, the former result; but I 
was disappointed. Devotion indeed came out, but with a 
totally different character, instead of kneeling, he stood 
erect, and his prayer began; " Lord! I thank thee that 
thou hast made me so much superior to all other men in 
knowledge of thee," &c. The tone of voice was no longer 
humble, and in short, an artist, wishing to paint a picture 
of the Pharisee in the temple, and the Publican afar off, 



EFFECTS IN THE CONSCIOUS STATE. 187 

would have found this man, in his last state, a perfect model 
for the former; in his first, an equally perfect study for the 
latter. I have seen many other instances of combined 
minifestations, where I knew not what to expect. 

From the above considerations I think it is evident, that 
there are cases in which Sympathy and Will do not suffice 
for the explanation, and where nothing but the admission 
of the phrenological organs, and of the influence of the 
operator on these by contact, can explain the results 
obtained. 

7. I have seen cases in which I could easily, by touch, 
excite some organs, but not others, which in other cases I 
could easily bring into action. In one case, where the 
organ of Caution could not be excited, my hand happened 
to touch that of Secretiveness, lying just below it, unknown 
to me. Instantly a bystander said, "Look ! look ! what is 
she doing ?" and I saw her secreting under her shawl, some 
small object taken very cunningly from the table. I was 
thinking of and desiring a manifestation of fear or of terror. 

8. Lastly, I have observed that, in some persons, in their 
ordinary state, certain faculties not only become unusually 
active, but are easily excitable by touching their organs. 
A lady mentioned to me that she was annoyed with spectral 
illusions, which indicated morbid activity of Form, Color, 
and other perceptive faculties. I tried the effect of touch- 
ing, in succession, all the perceptive organs. Those of 
Form, Color, Size, Order, and Number, all responded to 
the touch, and exhibited beautiful objects of many kinds, 
singly, or in vast numbers ; grouped in disorder, or symme- 
trically arranged; grey, or splendid in varied hues; and 
extending to infinite distance, and small or large, according 
to the organs touched. When Weight was touched, she felt 
as in a bad dream, as if falling from a precipice, or the 
ground falling away from her feet. 

This case confirms that theory of spectral illusions, which 
refers some of them to morbid excitement of the perceptive 
organ, which, however, does not explain all spectral ap- 
pearances. 



On the whole, we must, I think, admit that in the mag- 
netic sleep, and in susceptible subjects, the mental faculties 



188 EFFECTS OF MAGNETISM 

may be readily excited to action by touching, or pointing at, 
their organs, as well as by the will of the operator. See 
Part II. 



The next subject to which I wish to direct your atten- 
tion, is the fact, that the lower animals are susceptible of 
the magnetic influence. This has been often observed, and 
it is important, as excluding the action of the imagination, 
as well as the idea of collusion, and leading to the conclu- 
sion that a real influence exists, which passes from the ope- 
rator to the subject. 

1. There is reason to believe that the celebrated horse- 
tamer, and others who were in the habit of subduing un- 
broken or savage animals, have used, perhaps without know- 
ing it, some magnetic process. The great Irish horse-tamer 
is said to have shut himself up for a short time with the 
horse, and at the end of the time to have produced him 
tamed. He evidently had a secret, and it would appear 
that it must have been very simple, or he would not have 
been so fearful of its being discovered. It is said, however, 
that either he, or other tamers, breathed into the animal's 
nostrils, and certainly this process has been found very 
powerful by some who have tried it. Now, we know that 
breathing is one of the processes adopted in Animal Magnet- 
ism, and there is reason to believe that the breath is strongly 
charged with the influence. The influence of the human 
eye on the lower animals is a familiar fact, and a great 
part, if not the whole of the feats of Van Amburgh, and 
others who subdue lions and tigers, depends on the use of 
the eye. They never, if they can help it, especially in the 
case of very fierce animals, withdraw their fixed gaze, and 
so long as that is kept up, and the eye of the animal is 
fascinated in this way, so long does he attempt nothing 
against his subduer. It is well known, however, that it is 
often dangerous to relax the steadiness of the gaze, or to 
turn away the eye. Now gazing is an extremely powerful 
means of magnetising, so much so, that in my experience, 
I always begin, in a new case, by gazing steadily for five or 
ten minutes into the eyes of the subject. Mr. Lewis, whose 
power is so remarkable, operates chiefly by gazing, and 
those who have seen him operate, can readily understand 



ON THE LOWER ANIMALS. 189 

the fascination of the eye, when used with so intense a 
power of concentration as is found in Mr. Lewis. Within 
these few days, Mr. Lewis easily and completely magnetised 
a cat, in the presence of several persons. A case was 
lately published in the Zoist, in which the Duke of Marl- 
borough magnetised a very fierce dog by gazing alone. 

Miss Martineau has also recently published a case, in 
which she not only magnetised a cow, suffering from acute 
disease, but cured the animal by magnetic treatment. 

It would appear that the lower animals, being inamore natu- 
ral state than civilised man, are generally, perhaps always, 
susceptible to magnetic influence, as man, in his natural state, 
probably is also. Experiments on this subject would certain- 
ly yield very interesting results. 

2. Not only are the lower animals susceptible of the hu- 
man magnetic influence, but they can exert a similar influ- 
ence on each other. The power of the snake to fascinate 
birds by gazing, is pure Animal Magnetism. Not only is 
this fact daily observed in America, but snakes are very 
often seen to fascinate larger animals, such as the domestic 
cat, and even at incredible distances. Mr. Lewis informs 
me that he has often seen this. The cat becomes strange- 
ly agitated, when those observe it see no snake ; but a snake 
is always found on looking for it, with its eyes fixed on the 
cat. The latter is compelled to move towards the reptile, 
and after a time, falls down apparently unconscious, and 
quite helpless, unable to use its limbs, when if not rescued, 
it falls an easy prey to the snake, It is also observed, 
that when the snake is frightened away, or killed, and its 
gaze suddenly removed, the cat, in some instances, instantly 
dies. This Mr. Lewis has seen. This reminds us of the 
facts formerly mentioned, in regard to the magnetic trance, 
or extasis, which may pass into death, and in which it is 
sometimes difficult for the magnetiser to restore full life. 

3. There would appear to exist among the lower animals, 
some means of communication unknown to us. This has been 
observed in all animals, and is usually ascribed to Instinct. 
But what is Instinct ? This is merely giving the fact a name, 
not explaining its nature. In the dog, this peculiar sagacity 
has been much noticed, because the dog is so much in con- 
tact with man ; but there is hardly an animal which does not 
exhibit it, and in regard to which it has not been recorded. The 



190 SYMPATHY IN ANIMALS. 

courts of justice and punishments of rooks, the movements 
of birds of passage, and hundreds of analogous facts, point 
to some peculiar influence! How does a dog trace, not only 
his master, but also any thing which his master has touched, 
and commands him to seek, even although it be concealed ? 
How does a dog, carried to a distance by sea, or in a bag, find 
his way home by the direct route ? Who can explain the 
well-attested fact, that a Scotch terrier, having been taken 
to England, and there cruelly mangled by a large dog, not 
only found his way home, but immediately again departed 
for the scene of his ill-usage, not however alone, but with a 
companion, an old friend, in the shape of a large dog, who, 
when they arrived at their destination, assisted him to worry 
his tormentor? If we ascribe to the scent, the dog's power 
to trace his master, the degree of scent required is so great, 
that it amounts to a new sense ; for he will, after long con- 
finement, often go to where he last saw his master, and not 
finding him there, will yet trace him, through many places, 
till he find him. We cannot suppose ordinary scent here to 
be the agent. 

I am rather inclined to ascribe many of the marvels of 
Instinct to magnetic sympathy, which there is reason to be- 
lieve is very active and powerful in animals. We know that 
animals, of different genera, and even classes or orders, often 
exhibit an attachment very similar to that SQmetimes observed 
between a magnetiser and his subject; and they also shew 
very unaccountable antipathies, both to men and animals. 

It has lately been stated, by M. Aliix, on the authority of 
M. Benoit in Paris, and of another discoverer, (also, I be- 
lieve, a Frenchman, who is now in America,) both of whom, 
during the last ten years, have been employed in working 
out the discovery, which they had severally and independ- 
ently made, although they are now associated to work it out, 
that this magnetic sympathy is remarkably developed in 
snails ; that these animals, after having once been in commu- 
nication or in contact, continue ever after to sympathise, no 
matter at what distance they may be. And it has been pro- 
posed to found, on this fact, a mode of communication be- 
tween the most distant places. Nay, M. Allix describes, 
with care and judgment, experiments made in his presence, 
in which, the time having of course been fixed beforehand, 
words, spelled in Paris by M. Benoit, and also by M. Allix 



SNAIL TELEGRAPH. 191 

himself, were instantly read in America, and as instantly 
replied to, by words spelled there, and read in Paris. All 
this was done by means of snails, and although the full de- 
tails of the apparatus employed, and of all the processes 
necessary to ensure success, have not yet been published, yet 
the account given by M. Allix, and also by M. Benoit, goes 
so far as to enable us to conceive the principle made use of. 

It would appear that every letter has a snail belonging to 
it in Paris, while in America, each letter has also a snail, 
sympathetic with that of the same letter in Paris, the two 
snails of each letter having been at some period, and by some 
process, brought into full sympathy, and then separated and 
marked. There is, of course, a stock of spare snails for each 
letter, in case of accident, but it is found that these animals 
will live for a year without food, should that be necessary. 
When a word is to be spelled in Paris, the snail belonging 
to the first letter is brought by some galvanic apparatus, not 
yet fully described, into a state of disturbance, with which 
his fellow in America sympathises. But this requires to be 
ascertained ; which is done by approaching, in America, to 
all the snails successively, a testing apparatus, not described, 
which however includes a snail. On the approach of this, 
the snail whose fellow in Paris has been acted on, exhibits 
some symptom, which is not exhibited by any other, and the 
corresponding letter is noted down. This is done with each 
letter, and thus the word is finally spelled. 

Now all this may appear, at first sight, very absurd and 
ridiculous. I confess it appeared so to me, when I first 
heard of it. But when I recollected all I had seen of sym- 
pathy in man, all that was known about sympathy in the 
lower animals, and when I read the account given by M. 
Allix, a gentleman well versed in science, of the successful 
experiments at which he had assisted, I perceived that the 
only difficulty lay in admitting the fact of the extraordinary 
sympathy of snails, and that, this being granted, all the rest 
was not only possible but easy. Now, I know nothing what- 
ever about the habits of snails; and surely I am not entitled 
to reject facts, thus attested, without some investigation into 
them. I cannot say that the alleged sympathy is impossi- 
ble. But an investigation into the matter, so long as the 
full details of the experiments made by the discoverers are 
not published, is certain to be a laborious task, and probably 



192 ACTION OF MAGNETS 

a fruitless one. It cost them a long time to ascertain the 
facts, and they have been, for ten years, engaged in bring- 
ing their discovery into a practical form. Till the promised 
publication appears, we can only admit the possibility of the 
thing, and wait for the explanation, which shall enable us 
to verify it for ourselves. It will certainly be very remark- 
able, if a snail telegraph should come into action, which, in 
spite of the proverbial slowness of the animal concerned, 
should rival in rapidity the electric telegraph, and surpass 
it in security, inasmuch as there are no wires to be cut by 
an enemy, besides being infinitely less costly, since no solid, 
tangible means of communication are required, and all that 
is needed is the apparatus at either end of the line, and the 
properly prepared snails. 

It appears from the paper of M. Allix, that even this as- 
tounding novelty is not new. At least, it would seem, that 
a long time ago, I cannot fix the period, a secret mode of 
correspondence was devised, intended chiefly for communi- 
cations with a beleaguered fortress, in which it is believed 
that animal sympathy played the leading part. 



LETTER XII. 

In this Letter I shall proceed to mention, in a very gen- 
eral way, the action, on the human system, of inanimate 
objects, such as magnets, crystals, &c. It is the less neces- 
sary to dwell at length on this subject, as Baron von Reichen- 
bach's Researches on Magnetism, (a translation of which I 
published, in so far as they have appeared in Germany, in 
the month of May 1850, having previously given, in 1846, 
an Abstract of Part I.) contain the results of the only truly 
scientific investigation which has yet been made on that 
point. It is true that we only possesss, at present, a part 
of these admirable researches, which were continued, with 
great labor and astonishing perseverance, for five years. 
The Baron, during that time, collected full materials for a 
work on the numerous branches of the subject investigated 
by him ; but he has not, as yet, been able to publish more 



AND OF OTHER BODIES. 193 

than a part, sufficient, however, to make us eager to obtain 
the remainder. The labor and time required for arranging 
and publishing the details of so many investigations, made 
on upwards of 100 different persons, is very great, and the 
remainder of the work can only appear gradually, as it is 
brought into a state fit for publication. 

In Part I. however, we have a general summary of the 
whole investigation, and it is to that that we must refer for 
the facts which have been ascertained on this matter. 

1. Mesiner observed. the effects, not only of magnets, but 
of other things on the human body ; but he seems to have 
been, and his followers certainly were, in too great a hurry 
to apply the power he had observed to profitable purposes, 
and to the cure of disease, so that they made no thorough 
or scientific examination of it ; and the whole subject fell 
into discredit. 

Nevertheless, in now appears, that the fundamental facts 
are true. Magnets do act on the human body. When 
passes are made with them, the same sensations are experi- 
enced, as when the operator uses his hand. Here, no doubt, 
the influence of the hand is combined with that of the mag- 
net ; but, by using the magnet without the hand of the 
operator, or in the hand of a person whose hand, by itself, 
has no perceptible effect, it is ascertained that the magnet 
does exert an influence identical "with that exerted by the 
human body. 

This influence may go so far as to produce, even at a great 
distance, unconsciousness, as well as the true magnetic sleep, 
and in highly susceptible cases, even cataleptic rigidity and 
convulsions. In one such case, mentioned by Reichenbach, 
a large magnet, being disarmed at the greatest distance 
permitted by the room, instantly struck the patient into 
complete rigidity and unconsciousness. But Reichenbach 
has also shown that a large number of perfectly healthy per- 
sons are sensitive to the influence from the magnet. This 
sensitiveness is not a morbid condition, and is found, in dif- 
ferent degrees, in one person out of three, on an average, of 
healthy and diseased people. 

2. This influence is conducted, or passes, through all 
matter, differing in this from the electrical influence, which 
cannot pass, for example, through glass or resin, but passes 
easily through metals. 

17 



194 RESEARCHES OF 

3. Like electricity and ordinary magnetism, it is polar in 
its distribution. In the magnet, this influence, which Reich- 
enbach has named Odyle, is associated with Ferro-Magnet- 
ism, that power by which the suspended needle points to the 
north, and by which the magnet attracts iron filings. But 
it is found, as we shall see, unconnected with ferro-magnet- 
ism, as in crystals, or in the human body. But wherever 
it appears, that is, whether in magnets, in crystals, or in the 
human body, it is polar, like ferro-magnetism ; that is, there 
is a difference in its manifestations at the two ends or poles 
of the magnet or other body possessing it. It occurs, also, 
in amorphous matter, &c. without distinct polarity. 

4. The odylic influence is characterised, in its flow out of 
one body towards all others, for, like heat, light, and elec- 
tricity, it is sent forth in all directions, by its emanations 
being luminous, that is, to sensitive persons, in the dark. 
The light is very faint, so as generally to be overpowered 
by the faintest glimmer of ordinary light, although very 
sensitive persons, and most persons when in the magnetic 
sleep, can see it in day-light. It presents the rainbow 
colors, but at the northward pole of magnets the blue, at 
the southward the red predominates. For a multitude of 
very interesting details on the odylic light of magnets, I re- 
fer to the work of Beichenbach already mentioned, Part II. 

5. Not only is the odylic influence found in magnets, but 
also in crystals. All bodies, when in distinct and large 
crystals, possess it, and exhibit, to the sensitive, the same 
or analogous luminous emanations, often of great beauty. 
Crystals are also odylically polar, and produce, though less 
powerfully, the same effects as magnets, or as the human 
hand. 

6. The human body is found to possess the same influence, 
and to produce the same effects on the sensitive, as magnets 
do. I have already spoken of the light seen, by persons in 
the magnetic sleep, to issue from the tips of the operator's 
fingers. This is odylic light, which is seen by the sensitive, 
at least in the dark, without their being in the magnetic 
sleep. The hands are oppositely polar ; and the head, eyes 
and mouth are also foci where the odylic influence appears 
to be concentrated. This is the reason why passes with 
the hands, and gazing, are the most powerful means of mag- 
netising. 



BARON VON REICHENBACH. 195 

7. Besides the sources of odyle above mentioned, Reich- 
enbach has shown, that it is present in all material sub- 
stances, though generally in a less degree than in magnets 
or crystals. He has found it to be developed by heat, light, 
electricity, common or galvanic, friction, and every species 
of chemical action, such as combustion, the solution of a 
metal or of an alkali in an acid, respiration, and the changes 
going on in the animal body generally. This explains why 
the human or animal body is so plentiful a source of odyle. 
He has also found it in plants ; and has detected its presence 
in the light of the sun, moon, and stars. 

8. Another important observation is, that the human 
body is strongly influenced by the magnetism of the earth. 
Many very sensitive persons cannot sleep unless their bed 
lies in a plane parallel to the magnetic meridian, with the 
head towards the north. I have had opportunities of see- 
ing several, and hearing of many more, persons who experi- 
ence this ; and many of them had observed it, without 
being able to account for it, long before Reichenbach's ex- 
periments were made. It appears extremely probable, that 
some diseases may be more easily cured when this position 
of the bed is observed. To some patients, the position, at 
right angles to it, is quite intolerable, and this has been 
noticed long ago, but ascribed to fancy or idiosyncrasy alone. 

It is also found that people are more readily magnetised 
when they sit, with the head tow T ards the north, the face 
turned, and the feet extended towards the south, than in 
any other position. I have myself repeatedly experienced 
this, and probably, if observed, it will be found to be a 
general fact, although many are easily enough magnetised 
in any position. Reichenbach has also found, that to see 
the odylic light, for example, best, the subject should be in 
the north and south position, with the head towards the 
north. 

9. Reichenbach has also observed many very curious facts 
concerning the distribution of the magnetic or odylic in- 
fluence in the body, at different hours, and before or after 
meals. On waking in the morning, or rather with sunrise, 
it begins to rise, sinks a little before breakfast, from the 
effect of hunger, then rises steadily, with a sudden increase 
at dinner-time, continuing to rise till the evening, or after 



196 ODYLE IDENTICAL WITH 

sunset, -when it begins to fall, and falls during the night, 
till before sunrise it is at its lowest ebb. For many curious 
and interesting details on this point, and for the application 
of these facts to the due regulation of our mode of life, 
with a view to the preservation of health, I refer to the 
work of lieichenbach, so often mentioned. 

10. In all these researches, odyle appeared to be polar; 
and the negative and positive, northward or southward 
poles of any object possessing the odylic force, such as a 
magnet, a crystal, the human body, of which the hands are 
the chief poles, always produced peculiar effects. The 
negative or northward pole caused a grateful coolness, and 
gave out light in which blue predominated. The sensation 
caused by the positive or southward pole was a disagreeable 
warmth, and in its light red prevailed. The right hand is 
negative and cool, the left positive and warm. The sun's 
rays are negative, and cause to sensitives a strong but 
delightful coolness. Nay a hot stove caused, to the very 
sensitive, until they came so near as to be affected by the 
radiated heat, a cold feeling amounting to that of frost, due 
to its negative odylic emanations ; and in some, the nume- 
rous tapers in a Roman Catholic church caused not only 
cold, but fainting. The moon, on the contrary, is odylically 
positive, and her rays excite a feeling of warmth in the 
sensitive. All the planets, which, like the moon, shine by 
reflected light, are, like her odylically positive. 

11. In short, odyle is universally diffused throughout 
the material universe, and in this respect, it agrees with 
heat, light, and electricity. By a laborious and beautiful 
investigation, Reichenbach has, in my opinion, demonstrated 
the existence of a force, influence, or imponderable fluid, 
whatever name be given to it, which is distinct from all the 
known forces, influences, or imponderable fluids, such as 
heat, light, electricity, magnetism, and from the attractions, 
such as gravitation or chemical attraction. But it is highly 
analogous to the other imponderables, and, as we have seen, 
is found associated with them. All of them may possibly 
be hereafter reduced to one primary force, but in the mean- 
time odyle must be distinguished from the rest, just as heat, 
light, and electricity are from each other. 

Although lieichenbach has not made his experiments with 
artificially magnetised persons, nor on those in the magnetic 



ANIMAL MAGNETISM. 197 

sleep, or the state of artificial somnambulism, yet he has 
observed, that persons who are subject to spontaneous som- 
nambulism are almost always very sensitive when in their 
ordinary state, and that when *they fall into somnambulism, 
their sensitiveness is greatly increased. Now we know that 
persons in artificial somnambulism or magnetic sleep are also 
highly sensitive, so that they see the odylic light from the 
hand or from other objects, even in day-light. 

12. Hence it is hardly to be doubted that the odylic in- 
fluence, which exists in magnets and in the hand, and which 
in magnets produces the sensations formerly described, and 
even the magnetic sleep, is identical with the magnetic in- 
fluence of the hand, which is usually employed to produce 
the effects of Animal Magnetism. 

Thus, when Mesmer spoke of an influence from magnets, 
and of a magnetic fluid, as producing these effects, he was 
right, in so far, at least, as the existence of the influence is 
concerned ; which, if not a fluid, is as much entitled to the 
name as the electric fluid. But he was wrong in supposing 
it to be identical with ferro-magnetism, with which it is only 
associated. The mesmeric baquet was merely a mixture of 
all sorts of things, which, giving rise to a slow chemical 
action, furnished a slow but constant current of odylic, or 
magnetic influence. 

We may therefore, for the present, safely assume the 
odyle of Reichenbach, discovered by a totally different and 
independent train of researches, as being the influence or 
cause to which are due the effects of Animal Magnetism, as 
above described. The coincidence of the two modes of in- 
vestigation in this great point, of the existence of an in- 
fluence, which may be exerted, or pass, from one individual 
to another, is the best guarantee for the accuracy of both. 

We can no longer have a difficulty in conceiving how a 
susceptible person may be thrown into somnambulism by the 
influence of another, even without contact. If a magnet 
can do this, why may not the hand, which has been shown 
to possess the very same influence as the magnet ? It ap- 
pears to me, that the laborious and truly scientific researches 
of Reichenbach have forever settled the question as to the 
existence of an external and universally diffused influence, 
different from all known influences, although closely allied 



198 ODYLIC LIGHT. 

with and analogous to several of them, and which is capable 
of producing the effects of Animal Magnetism. 

13. I have, with very imperfect means and limited leisure, 
repeated many of Reichenbach's experiments, on magnets, 
crystals, chemical action, and the human hand, on sensitive 
persons in the ordinary waking state. And in every such 
case, with great variations in degree, I have found his state- 
ments and descriptions rigorously exact. I have also been 
informed, by many friends, as well as by many persons un- 
known to me personally, who have repeated some of these 
experiments, chiefly those with small magnets and crystals, 
that their experience, in every point observed by them, con- 
firms the statements of the Baron. Sensitive persons are 
easily found, if we only look for them, and, according to my 
own observation, they are not less frequent here than he 
found them to be in Vienna. 

I would here, in recommending the repetition and prosecu- 
tion of these attractive researches, by enquirers possessing 
the leisure which is necessary, urge on them the absolute 
necessity of attending to the conditions minutely laid down 
by Reichenbach. In order to see the odylic light, for ex- 
ample, not only must the person be sensitive, but the dark- 
ness must be absolute, and the sensitive should remain in it 
for an hour or two, before we can expect the eye to be fully 
awake to the faint but beautiful luminous emanations of 
magnets, crystals, the hand, &c. And after the observer 
and his subject or subjects have entered the darkened 
chamber, not the smallest gleam of light, even of the dullest 
daylight or of a candle, must be allowed to enter at chink 
or cranny, door or window. No one should come in or go 
out during the experiment ; for if the door be opened, the 
admission, for an instant, of light from the next room, blinds 
the subject, unless of the highest order of sensitives, which 
is rare, for half an hour, an hour, or even longer, to the 
feeble beams of odylic light. Another essential precau- 
tion is, that no one should be close to the subject or to 
the object observed. The approach even of the observer 
often extinguishes the light, visible but a moment before, 
by changing the odylic state of the magnet, &c, as well as 
that of the subject himself. Unless all these and other 
precautions arc attended to, failure is the result. 

14. Before passing on to the next point to be discussed, 



AURORA BOREALIS. 199 

I would here refer to two beautiful applications of Reichen- 
bach's discoveries. — First, since all chemical action is at- 
tended with the emission of odylic light as well as odylic 
influence, the changes which take place in the dead bodies 
by decay, which are chemical, are sources of odylic light, 
just as are the changes in the living body, respiration, diges- 
tion, &c. &c. Hence sensitive persons see luminous ap- 
pearances over graves, especially over recent graves. There 
will be found in the work of Reichenbach several most in- 
teresting and instructive cases of this fact, and thus we find, 
that science, w T ith her torch, dissipates the shades of super- 
stition. Corpse-lights exist, but they are not supernatural ; 
neither are those, who habitually see them, what we call in 
Scotland " uncanny." The lights are perfectly natural and 
harmless ; and the seers are only sensitive persons. I have 
been informed of several such cases, in which these lights 
are always seen at night (if dark) over church-yard graves 
or burying-vaults, and in which the observation dates many 
years before Reichenbach made his investigations. 

Secondly: As magnets emit beautiful odylic light, so the 
earth, which is a vast magnet, emits its odylic light; which, 
in consequence of the great size and enormous power of the 
magnet concerned, becomes visible to all eyes, perhaps more 
vividly to the sensitive ; but this is not easy to ascertain. 
This is not a mere hypothesis. It is supported by a series 
of the most beautiful experiments with which I am ac- 
quainted. Reichenbach converted a large iron globe, two or 
three feet in diameter, into a powerful temporary magnet, 
by causing an electric current to traverse a wire coiled round 
a bar of iron passing from pole to pole of the sphere. When 
the globe was suspended in the air, in an absolutely dark 
room, the sensitives saw the odylic light in the most exqui- 
site beauty, and with all the peculiar characters of the 
Aurora Borealis and the Aurora Australis. At each pole 
appeared a wide circle of light, more blue at the northward, 
more red at the southward pole, but at both with all the 
rainbow hues. The equator was marked by a luminous belt, 
towards which, on or close above the surface of the sphere, 
lines of light constantly streamed from the polar circles. In 
the polar circles, as well as in the streaming lines, the colors 
were arranged so that red predominated in one quarter, the 
south, blue in the opposite, yellow in the west, and opposite 



200 ARTIFICIAL AURORA. 

to it, grey, or the absence of color, while, as in all the 
odylic rainbows, a narrow stripe of red appeared near the 
grey, at the end of the iris most remote from the great mass 
of red — a most beautiful confirmation of Sir David Brewster's 
analysis of the spectrum. The delicate streaming lines or 
threads of light passed by insensible gradations from one 
color to the other, so that any two contiguous lines appeared 
to have the same color, yet, on looking a little farther on, 
the color gradually changed, and thus the whole of the rain- 
bow hues appeared in their order, red, orange, yellow, green, 
blue, indigo, violet, and last of all the small red stripe, and 
the grey. But the passage from red to orange, or from 
orange to yellow, &c, was not sudden, but slow and gradual, 
so that all the intermediate tints were seen. Nor was this 
all, for in the air, above each pole, appeared a splendid 
crown, or umbel of light, more blue at the northward, more 
red at the southward, but exhibiting also all the colors, and 
sending towards the equator splendid streamers of many- 
colored light, dancing and leaping, lengthening and shorten- 
ing, just as the finest northern streamers do, to the delighted 
eye of the observer. I cannot here enter into a full de- 
scription of this artificial Aurora, the first ever produced ; 
but I may record my conviction, that this experiment gives, 
to that theory which regards the Aurora as odylic light, a 
degree of probability far greater than attaches to any other 
theory of that phenomenon. I may observe also, that the 
Aurora does not cease to be a magnetic phenomenon; and 
that it should affect the needle is to be expected, since, in 
magnets, odylic influence and odylic light are found asso- 
ciated with the ferro-magnetic influence. 

15. It still remains for me to speak of a class of facts, 
which has not yet been alluded to. I mean, the power 
which we possess of communicating, to certain objects, the 
magnetic influence. Mesmer spoke of magnetised water; 
but this idea was scouted and rejected as absurd. But every 
one who has studied Animal Magnetism, and tried the ex- 
periment, knows, that water may be so charged with vital 
magnetism, (with odyle,) that a person in the magnetic 
sleep, without the slightest knowledge that the experiment 
is made or intended, instantly and infallibly distinguishes 
such water from that not magnetised. It is generally de- 
scribed as having a peculiar taste, not easily defined, and as 



MAGNETISED WATER. 201 

producing internal warmth when swallowed, and these pecu- 
liarities are very strongly marked. Some subjects describe 
it as vapid and tasteless, like rain, or distilled water, whereas 
the same water, if not magnetised, has to them (if it be good 
spring water,) its usual agreeable sharpness. Of the fact, 
which I have often tested, there can be no doubt. 

This effect may be produced either by the hand, in which 
case, while the vessel is held resting on the left palm, and 
grasped by the fingers of the left hand, circular passes are 
made above it with the right hand, or the fingers of the 
right hand are held with their points close to the surface 
of the water, or by magnets, held in the same way, or by 
crystals. 

Reichenbach has shown, that .sensitive persons, even when 
not in the magnetic sleep, often readily distinguished mag- 
netised water from ordinary water. The effect, in all cases, 
lasts only for a certain time, which may extend, when the 
charge is strong, to a good many hours. 

Magnetised water, as I have seen, will often cause the 
magnetic sleep, in persons who have been, on former occa- 
sions, put to sleep by the operator in the usual way. I 
have seen it also produce natural sleep, in excitable persons, 
not formerly magnetised, and sometimes the sleep has taken 
place instantly on swallowing the water, and has been sound 
and refreshing. It is indeed possible, that it may have been 
magnetic sleep, at least in some of these persons ; but as the 
object was to produce sleep in those who were restless, no 
experiments were tried. 

Not only water, but any other body, as has been shown 
by Reichenbach, may be charged with the influence ; and it 
is not uncommon for the magnetic sleep to be produced, in 
the absence of the operator, by an object thus charged and 
sent by him to his patient. The patient will easily detect 
the attempt to impose on him by an object not charged; at 
least in many cases, just as he knows magnetised from un- 
magnetised water. 



I now come to another matter ; namely, the applications 
which may be made of the facts hitherto noticed. And 
here I would again urge on your attention the consideration, 
that it is no argument against the study of a fact, or of a 



202 THERAPEUTICAL EFFECTS 

series of facts, to say, that it is useless, and nothing more 
than a mere curiosity of science. There is no such thing 
as a mere curiosity of science ; that is, there is nothing of 
which it can be said that it may not, at a moment's notice, 
become useful, either in reference to some other scientific 
matter, or in its practical application to the purposes of 
ordinary life or of the arts. I have already given many 
instances of this, and one of these was the sudden applica- 
tion, to a most important practical purpose, the alleviation 
of pain, of a substance long regarded as a scientific curiosity, 
of no value whatever, namely Chloroform. The same sub- 
stance supplies us with the example of the application of a 
discovery to the improvement of the method of investigating 
another branch of science, which, in its turn, may bear rich 
fruits of practical utility, especially in reference to the cure 
of disease; and to the investigation, again, of another sub- 
ject, the laws of the nervous system, or of the vital principle. 

Every one knows that many important points in physiology 
have been ascertained by experiments on living animals, the 
cruelty of which, in most minds, so far exceeded any possible 
benefit to be derived from them, that they were only under- 
taken by a few of stronger nerves, and less sensitive to the 
sufferings of the dumb victims to science, than most people 
are. Now, by the use of chloroform, all conceivable experi- 
ments on living animals may be at once divested of pain. 
The animals will not suffer, and if their lives are sacrificed, 
it will be with less suffering than when they die to furnish 
our tables, or to supply us with sport. No one need now 
recoil from such experiments ; they will be prosecuted with 
greater success, because there will be no writhings, no strug- 
gles, no cries, to interrupt or dismay the experimenter, 
whose mind, free from the reproach of his own conscience 
for cruelty, will be far better fitted to discern the truth. 
Such is the second, possibly in its consequences to mankind 
the most important, application of Chloroform. And more 
remain behind. 

1. In like manner, if Animal Magnetism had never yet 
been applied to any useful purpose, this, so far from being a 
reason for neglecting it, would furnish the strongest reason 
why it should be more diligently studied, since it is only by 
a knowledge of all the properties which can be ascertained 



OF ANIMAL MAGNETISM. 203 

to belong to any agent, that we can hope to find useful ap- 
plications of it. It was because the discoverers of Chloro- 
form confined their observations to its physical and chemical 
properties alone, or rather to some of these, and neglected 
to try its action on the system when inhaled, that it con- 
tinued so long useless. 

But Animal Magnetism, in point of fact, already presents 
many useful applications. It has been, and daily is, used 
to produce insensibility to pain, in surgical operations. It 
is used with very great success, to relieve rheumatic and 
neuralgic pains. Many cases of severe neuralgia, but not 
all, yield to its use. It daily removes headaches, and pro- 
duces refreshing sleep in persons who have long suffered 
from wakefulness. It relieves, nay, with perseverance it 
often cures, many diseases of the nervous system, such as 
paralysis, hysteria, epilepsy, catalepsy, and chorea, or St. 
Vitus' Dance. And all this, from its direct and powerful 
action on the nervous system, might be anticipated. 

2. The effects of Animal Magnetism, however, are not 
confined to such cases. It acts on the general health, 
doubtless through the nervous system, in such a w ay as to 
produce very often the most marked improvement, and in 
many instances to cause, sooner or later, old and very an- 
noying complaints to disappear. Nay, cases occur, in which 
one operation, especially if it induce the sleep, will be fol- 
lowed by a rapid and permanent cure. This, it is true, is 
the exception ; but, with patience and perseverance, even 
without ever producing the sleep, we may cure or relieve a 
large number of cases, provided they be not of that nature 
which precludes hope of amendment. An immense number 
of magnetic cures have been recorded, both by medical and 
non-medical operators, among them that of a well-marked 
case of cancer by Dr. Elliotson ; and making every allow- 
ance for imperfect observation, and for the tendency to 
exaggerate the merit of any new method of treatment, no 
doubt can reasonably be entertained that Animal Magnetism 
is a very powerful means of cure, and ought to be in the 
hands of every physician. The absurdity of the idea of an 
universal medicine, or panacea, is obvious ; but that is no 
reason for rejecting a method which, in many cases, will 
prove of essential service, and which is not only manage- 



204 INSANITY TREATED BY 

able but safe ; which, therefore, if it do no good, will at 
least, in good hands, do no harm. 

I have had many opportunities of seeing the good effects 
of magnetism, even where the object has been only to study 
the phenomena. It daily happens that persons magnetised 
for that purpose, astonish and delight the operator, by tell- 
ing him that, since magnetism was used, they have got rid 
of some obstinate complaint ; or that their general health 
and spirits are strikingly improved. 

If it be said, that these effects are due to the imagination 
alone, I answer, that if so, they are not on that account 
unreal or imaginary ; that it is then our duty to study the 
power of the imagination, and use it as a most powerful 
agent for good; that at all events, Animal Magnetism, in 
that case, has a very great action on the imagination, and 
is probably the best means of acting on it. But in many 
cases, the imagination does not act, because it is not ap- 
pealed to. Both subject and magnetiser are often taken by 
surprise, when they find that some distressing complaint, 
perhaps regarded as hopeless, but which neither of them 
had thought of curing, has been, as if by magic, relieved or 
cured. 

I would particularly direct the attention of physicians to 
the value of Animal Magnetism, in reference to insanity, 
not only as regards treatment, but also for another reason. 

There is no doubt that many persons who are subject to 
attacks of insanity, as in the case of other diseases of the 
nervous system, are very sensitive, and susceptible to mag- 
netic or odylic influence. Hence we are prepared to find, as 
has been recorded in many instances, that magnetic treat- 
ment is sometimes effectual in insanity, wdiere all means 
have failed. The treatment, and, above all, the moral 
management of the insane, has of late been greatly improv- 
ed ; and for the greater part of this improvement we are 
indebted to phrenology. Violence, restraint, and cruelty, 
are banished from our asylums, and means are judiciously 
and kindly resorted to, in most of them, for employing such 
faculties as remain capable of being used. Th£ result is, 
that, in spite of the sad reflections which arise in the mind 
when visiting an asylum, we feel, if it be well conducted, 
that, for most, if not all, of the unfortunate inmates, it is a 
scene of pleasure, and of such happiness as they can enjoy, 



ANIMAL MAGNETISM. 205 

which often surpasses, by far, the lot of the sane man. I 
rejoice to think, that the improvement is progressive. 

But I am now convinced, that the treatment of the insane 
will not be so complete or so efficient as it may become, till 
Animal Magnetism is regularly introduced into the practice 
of every asylum. Indeed, there can be no doubt that the 
control exercised, by the aid of the voice and eye, on many 
of the insane by an experienced physician, depends mainly 
on their being in the impressible state so often mentioned, 
in which suggestion and command act like magic on the 
patient. If this were generally know T n, and systematically 
attended to, much good might be effected. ■ And where the 
patient is susceptible or impressible, there is good reason to 
hope that direct magnetisation may produce the best results. 
Animal Magnetism is not less powerful on the insane than 
on the sane ; nay, it is more so ; probably because, in many 
cases, the essence of insanity is some disturbance of the 
natural distribution of odyle in the system. The effect of 
the moon, whose rays are strongly charged with positive 
odyle, on the insane, corroborates this view. 

There is, however, another reason why the physician 
ought to study Animal Magnetism, in its relation to insanity. 
It is this: many insane persons appear, when we study the 
symptoms as they are described by writers on the subject, 
to be, in fact, only in a peculiar magnetic state. I mean, 
that they have a consciousness distinct from their ordinary 
consciousness, just as happens in the magnetic sleep. Let 
us suppose a patient to fall, spontaneously, into a continued 
magnetic sleep, in which, while his eyes are open, he has 
no recollection, or only an imperfect recollection, of his or- 
dinary state. He is perhaps lucid, and lives in a world of 
his own, entirely consistent with itself, but absolutely in- 
comprehensible to all around. His perceptions are, to him, 
and indeed absolutely, real ; but to others they appear mere 
dreams. He sees absent or dead friends ; nay, he holds 
long conversations with them; he sees also objects, which 
really exist, but at a distance. He is partially or wholly 
dead to the objects which surround him, and is absorbed, 
and perhaps supremely happy, in the contemplation of the 
persons, places, and things seen by his lucid vision. Lastly, 
he becomes ecstatic, and sees, and converses with denizens 
of the spiritual world. 
18 



206 USE OF MAGNETISM IN THE 

Now every word uttered by such a person is, to those 
around him, positive proof of his insanity. He is shut up ; 
and the nature of the case not being even suspected, he 
becomes still more firmly rooted in his new state, in which, 
perhaps, he dies. 

But it may be asked, Is that man insane ? I answer, in 
one sense, yes ; for he is unfit, so long as he continues in 
that state, for intercourse with the world. But in another 
sense, I say, no; for his mental powers are unimpaired, and 
he is only in a very vivid dream, so to speak, but a dream 
of realities, visible and audible to him by reason of exalted 
odylic sensitiveness. 

In such a case, admitting, for the present, the possibility 
of its occurrence, it would seem reasonable to expect that 
he might be cured, that is, simply restored to ordinary con- 
sciousness, by magnetic treatment. The chief symptom is 
so intense a degree of odylic sensitiveness, that the impres- 
sions made on the sensorium by those odylic emanations of 
which I have spoken, and of which I shall speak more fully 
in the next Letter, and which are at all times acting on us, 
though overlooked — that these impressions, contrary to what 
occurs in the normal state, are so vivid as to overpower 
those derived from the external senses. May not this ex- 
cessive sensitiveness be removed by appropriate magnetic 
treatment ? This, however, cannot be done, unless the na- 
ture of the case be understood, and magnetic treatment 
practically studied. 

Now, it is not a mere fancy of mine, that such cases are 
viewed as cases of insanity, and the patients shut up ac- 
cordingly, without appropriate treatment. I have been 
informed of a case, in which a lady, confined as insane, who 
(in consequence of accidental circumstances, which, appear- 
ing to have a favorable eiFect, were very judiciously made 
use of,) so far recovered as to be sent home, and was re- 
garded as cured. During her illness, her conversation was 
not only rational but highly intelligent, except, of course, 
in regard to certain delusions, probably of the nature I have 
described above. When sent home, she retained complete 
consciousness and memory of all that had passed during her 
confinement ; and by and bye was engaged to a gentleman 
with whom she had become acquainted since her illness. 
She now had a severe illness, of a febrile character, and on 



TREATMENT OF INSANITY. 207 

recovering from this, she had lost all trace of recollection 
of her insane state, of her confinement, and of the person 
to whom she was engaged, who was received by her, to his 
no small surprise, as an utter stranger. She was now really 
cured, and just as she had been before her insanity. 

Now, I cannot help thinking, that she was, during her 
confinement, in a magnetic state such as I have described, 
and that her first recovery was no true cure, inasmuch as 
she retained her new consciousness, which was forever lost 
when she really recovered, after an illness which strongly 
affected the nervous system. Might not a similar change 
have been effected by magnetic treatment, when she was 
first confined ? 

I know a young gentleman, singularly susceptible to odylic 
and magnetic influences, who some years ago was still more 
so, and very narrowly escaped being confined as insane. 
Being fortunately under the charge of humane and enlight- 
ened persons, he has been treated by magnetism, with very 
great benefit. His susceptibility has diminished so far as 
no longer to cause uneasiness to his friends. Had he been 
confined, and had not magnetism been employed, he would 
probably now be in an asylum, while, with the exception of 
the excessive sensitiveness to odylic impressions, he never 
was, in any shape or degree, insane. 

I am acquainted with another gentleman, who, at times, 
suffers acutely from odylic impressions of every kind, so that 
almost every person or object that he approaches is a source 
of the most painful and distressing sensations. He' is so 
far from being insane, that his intellect is of a very high 
class, and he is quite aware of the cause of his sufferings. 
He has told me, that, but for this knowledge, he would 
almost have, at times, believed himself to be insane. 

I observe in the accounts of the insane, the delusion of 
seeing and conversing with absent persons, or with spirits, 
given as an infallible sign, where it occurs, of insanity. It 
may be so, in some cases ; but it is self-evident, that, as it 
may depend merely on spontaneous extasis, more permanent 
than usual, while the mind is entirely unimpaired, just as 
happens in artificial magnetic extasis, some cases, treated as 
insanity, may have been of this latter kind. 

It is therefore much to be desired, that physicians should 
learn the characters of every stage of Animal Magnetism. 



208 USEFUL APPLICATIONS 

I would say, therefore, and especially to medical men, use 
magnetism, were it only to become acquainted with it, and 
in the course of your experiments, you will be sure to find 
some one unexpectedly benefited by it. You will then use 
it for the cure of disease, and although we cannot hope to 
enjoy its full benefits until it has been fully studied, still, so 
safe and so powerful a remedy should be employed, espe- 
cially when the usual means have failed. The more it is 
used, the better shall we become acquainted with it, and the 
more effectually shall we be able to employ it. 



3. In regard to other useful applications of Animal Mag- 
netism, much cannot as yet be said. I can very well imagine 
it to be used for the purpose of searching more deeply than 
by other means we can, into the nature of the relation be- 
tween the mind and the body ; into the laws of thought ; 
and even into the nature of the mind itself. I mean, that 
whether we regard thought, as some do, as merely the ne- 
cessary result of the action of the brain, or whether we 
assume, as is usually done, the existence of a separate being, 
the soul, mind, or thinking principle, which uses the brain 
as its instrument — in either case, a careful study of the va- 
rious mental phenomena observed in Animal Magnetism must 
throw light on the laws of thought, perception, sensation, &c. 
There is, for example, a class of patients, who, in the mag- 
netic sleep, can accurately point out the precise part of the 
brain which acts in every manifestation, whether of thought, 
of sensation, of muscular motion and muscular sense, of 
memory, in short, of every act in which the brain is con- 
cerned. Some can even see, and describe consistently, the 
actual physical changes in the brain which accompany these 
acts, and it can hardly be doubted that much valuable infor- 
mation may thus be acquired. I have already pointed out, 
that the questions of the essential nature of mind, and even 
of matter, are beyond the reach of the human faculties; but 
the laws of their mutual relations are attainable. While, 
therefore, we confess that we know nothing, and probably 
never shall know any thing, of the essence of mind, let us 
diligently use all the means in our power to acquire a know- 
lqjdge of the laws of its action. 

4. Again, it is quite easy to sec how sympathy and clair- 



OF ANIMAL MAGNETISM. 209 

voyance may be turned to useful purposes. They may enable 
us to obtain information about absent friends or relations ; 
nay, they are actually often used for that purpose. They 
may be used to discover missing or stolen goods and docu- 
ments, and for this purpose also they are daily employed. 
In Part II. will be found some instances of such applications 
of lucidity. I have already said that I think it far from 
improbable that this power may be so used as to throw light 
on obscure historical points, and to discover documentary 
evidence in regard to these. • Moreover, I have already de- 
scribed the principle, which certainly has nothing impossible 
in it, of the use of animal sympathy in the projected Snail 
Telegraph, or, as it is called by the inventors, the Pasilalinic 
Telegraph ; and I have also mentioned the application of 
lucidity to the inspection of the living frame, healthy or dis- 
eased, for anatomical and physiological as well as medical 
purposes. 

All these applications are yet in their infancy. But as 
the number of observers increases, so will increase, not only 
the number of cases of lucidity, but also that of useful appli- 
cations, which, if not made now, will sooner or later be dis- 
covered. 



5. There is, indeed, one useful application of our know- 
ledge of Animal Magnetism, which has already been made, 
and will yet be made to a greater extent ; I mean that of 
explaining many things, which, to the ignorant, appear super- 
natural, and which, the knowledge of their real nature having, 
in earlier ages, and even down to a period not very remote, 
been considered as a secret or mystery, and confined to cer- 
tain classes of men, such as priests, adepts, magicians, sor- 
cerer, and perhaps astrologers and physicians, some of whom 
may have really believed that they possessed supernatural 
power, acquired the names of magic, sorcery, witchcraft, the 
black art, &c. 

All sorts of necromancy, divination, and oracles, may be 
ranked in the same category; and it may safely be said, that 
the more intimately we become acquainted with Animal Mag- 
netism, the more do we find, that every notion which has 
prevailed among men in regard to these matters may be re- 

18* 



210 MAGIC, DIVINATION, ETC., 

ferred to natural causes, connected with Animal Magnetism 
in some of its innumerable developments. 

In the heathen temples, the magic cure of disease was often 
associated with the oracle, and the belief in both was uni- 
versal. If we grant the possibility of clairvoyant prevision, 
and the evidence seems to me to lean in favor of it, we may 
readily understand how the priesthood, trained in the sacred 
mysteries, knew how to produce the magnetic state, includ- 
ing lucidity, especially in females, who are more readily 
magnetised. The lucid priestess, rendered so by means 
partly known and partly unknown, but certainly with the 
aid of music and fumigations, probably also by gazing and 
passes, sat on her tripod, which was perhaps a magnetic ap- 
paratus, and, by means of her lucidity, described the dis- 
eases of her clients, or predicted future events. When true 
lucidity w T as not to be found, imposture was resorted to, but 
it is hardly possible to believe that there was no foundation 
whatever for the universal belief. 

There can be no doubt that the priests of India, Egypt, 
Greece, Rome, and other pagan countries, had secrets or 
mysteries, which were carefully veiled from the public eye. 
It is equally certain that those of Egypt had extensive 
knowledge of natural truths, both in astronomy and physics, 
as well as in medicine, and that the sages of Greece resorted 
to their temples for information. Such acute observers as 
the Egyptians could not fail to discover the leading facts of 
Animal Magnetism, which indeed occur spontaneously every 
day.* A spontaneous somnambulist, if lucid, and capable 
of truly describing absent persons and objects, perhaps also 
of predicting the inevitable consequences of what he saw, 
would be regarded by the people as inspired by the gods ; 
while the priests, who studied the matter, and made it a 
crime for any but their own class to do so, would soon find 
out how to produce the inspiration at pleasure, especially 
if, as is now found to be the case in India, according to the 
unimpeachable testimony of Dr. Esdaile, every man proved 
to be susceptible of Magnetism. 

This is a most tempting subject of investigation. I had 
already, to a considerable extent, collected materials for a 
brief history of Magnetism, and its various developments, 
from the earliest ages down to its rediscovery by Mesmcr ; 
and I had intended here to show, that all the magic, sorcery, 



EXPLAINED BY MAGNETISM. 211 

divination, and witchcraft, of the early and middle ages 
was, in so far as founded on natural truth, only the result 
of a knowledge of Animal Magnetism, a knowledge jea- 
lously guarded by those who possessed it, and probably at 
their suggestion, regarded by the people as the direct gift 
of infernal powers. This has been often proved, and many 
authors, especially in Germany, have treated of the subject, 
although there is no English work to which the reader might 
be referred. 

Such, therefore, was my intention ; namely, to have given 
a brief abstract of what had been ascertained, by the la- 
borious investigations of many learned men, in regard to 
the history of magnetism, and its relation to magic, witch- 
craft, divination, &c. 

But while occupied in this research, for which my other 
avocations left but little time, at uncertain intervals, I was 
informed, and I rejoiced to find the information correct, 
that the proposed work was in far better hands, in those 
namely, of the veteran defender of modern magnetism in 
this country, Mr. Colquhoun, whose "Isis Revelata," many 
years ago, contributed in a great degree to create that 
general interest in the subject which has of late so greatly 
increased. Those who know that gentleman and his works, 
are aware that his learning is profound, his research un- 
wearied, and his intellect clear and comprehensive. His 
proposed work on the History of Animal Magnetism is, I 
rejoice to say, in a state of great forwardness; and I gladly 
refer you to it, and refrain from here entering minutely 
into the questions above alluded to. 

I shall content myself with pointing out, that a great 
proportion of those things which are called magic, witch- 
craft, divination, &c, obviously depend on those principles 
of Animal Magnetism which I have endeavored systemati- 
cally to present to you. 

6. Thus, not only the ancient oracles, and the magical 
cures of the pagan temples, but also the divination which 
even yet survives in Egypt, and of which Miss Martineau 
and other writers have given us an account, are clearly to 
be referred to lucidity or clairvoyance, as, in regard to the 
latter mode of divination, I shall endeavor to show, when 
treating of the theory or explanation of Animal Magnetism. 
The wonders of the magic mirror, and of the magic crystal, 



212 APPARITIONS EXPLAINED 

will also be found, I think, to depend essentially on the 
same cause. The researches of M. Dupotet have led him, 
it is said, to the discovery of the secret of much of the 
magic of the middle ages, including the magic mirror, and 
the world looks anxiously for the completion of his investiga- 
tions. It is well known, also, that the magic crystal has of 
late attracted much attention, and that several ancient 
crystals are extant, the properties of which, it is to he 
hoped, with the help of Reichenbach's discoveries, will admit 
of scientific ascertainment. 

7. The belief in witchcraft, in the power possessed by 
certain persons of rendering themselves invisible, which feat 
is now daily exhibited by such operators as Dr. Darling or 
Mr. Lewis, who become invisible to their subjects in the 
conscious state; in that of assuming the form of any man 
or animal, which is quite as easy, by means of suggestion, 
as the former ; in the power of travelling through the air to 
a distant place, and seeing what there occurs ; finally, the 
belief in intercourse with spirits, good or evil, which occurs 
daily, whether as a dream or otherwise, in magnetic or 
spontaneous extasis ; all these are explainable by what has 
been said on sympathy, suggestion, lucidity, trance, and 
extasis. 

It is notorious that, while many persons suffered for 
witchcraft, who died denying every allegation against them, 
many confessed to all the above offences, as they themselves 
regarded them. The truth and actual occurrence of the 
facts, or visions, or delusions, which are still facts, is the 
most satisfactory explanation of such confessions. 

Animal Magnetism will finally dissipate all the obscurity 
and all the superstition which has attached to this matter ; 
and when we see that the facts, delusions, or visions, how- 
ever astounding, depend on natural causes, superstition will 
have lost her firmest hold on the human mind. 

8. Another obscure subject has been, in part, cleared up 
by the discoveries of Animal Magnetism. I mean, spectral 
illusions, or Apparitions. There can now be no doubt, that 
some apparitions are visions occasioned by lucidity, that is, 
by clairvoyance, occurring spontaneously. In these, the 
absent person is really seen, and his occupation at the mo- 
ment is also perceived. Or the image of a dead person is 



BY ANIMAL MAGNETISM. 213 

recalled by suggestion, and becomes so vivid as to be taken 
for reality. 

There is, as we have seen above, a third species of spec- 
tral appearances, depending on the odylic light from graves, 
&c. This, according to Reichenbach, is described generally 
without specific form, a mass of faint white light, often as 
high as a man. The accounts I have had of it, as seen by 
persons in this country, are similar. It is easy to imagine, 
that an excited and terrified imagination may give a hu- 
man form to this light, and such, in the opinion of Reichen- 
bach, is the origin of ghosts, which are generally white. 
But it is remarkable, that in the very first case mentioned 
by Reichenbach, that of the light seen by the amanuensis 
of the blind poet Pfeffel, in a garden, over a spot where, on 
digging, there were found the remains of a human body, 
imbedded in a mass of lime, doubtless buried there many 
years before, during a pestilence, the young man saw it in 
the form of a female figure floating over the spot, with one 
arm on her breast, the other hanging down. I am not pre- 
pared to say, that in this case, in which the observer was 
repeatedly questioned in presence of the object, the learned 
Baron has not been rather hasty in regarding the form as 
altogether fanciful. Further investigation only can show 
whether the light from a body may not have the general 
form of the body, as asserted by the seer in this case. 

But when we thus refer certain classes of apparitions to 
natural causes, we are not yet able with certainty to ac- 
count, in this way, for all. Cases are recorded, and I shall 
give one or two in Part II., in which it is stated, and on 
good testimony, that apparitions, generally of persons at 
that moment dying or dead, have been seen, not as a faint 
light, but in their natural aspect and color; not by one ter- 
rified peasant, but by two or more self-possessed and edu- 
cated men. Nay, some of these are said to have spoken, 
and to have done so for a purpose. Every one knows the 
story of Lord Lyttleton, and of the mark left on his hand, 
as a sign of the reality of the apparition. But, granting 
that to have been a dream, we cannot apply the same 
theory to the case of the apparition which I shall mention 
in Part II., which was seen by a whole party of officers at 
table, and by one among them who had never seen the per- 
son whose figure appeared. The explanation of such facts 



214 SECOND SIGHT. 

can only be looked for, when we shall hare more deeply 
studied every branch of the subject. I am inclined to think 
that Animal Magnetism will supply us with a key for the 
explanation even of this class of Apparitions on natural 
principles. I need hardly mention, what is well known, 
that another class of spectral appearances, not connected 
with our subject, is that which depends on optical illusions, 
or disordered internal perception, as it has been illustrated 
and described by Sir W. Scott, Sir D. Brewster, and many 
other writers. 

9. There can, I think, be little doubt, that the second 
sight is also a phenomenon depending on Animal Mag- 
netism, that is, on spontaneous lucidity. The objects of the 
seer's vision are commonly said to have been such as were 
at a distance, such as an approaching traveller, or enemy. 
If we suppose the seer to have become, by concentrating 
his thoughts, lucid, and yet conscious, or at all events, if in 
the sleep, yet capable of speaking, and conversing with 
those around him, he may have seen, by clairvoyance, the_ 
distant traveller, toiling along the mountain path, which he 
recognises as distant, one, two, or more days' journey, and 
he may thus have predicted his arrival and described his 
appearance. I know that, in certain persons, extreme 
voluntary concentration, or reverie, may alike produce the 
conscious lucid state, and that persons unknown to the seer 
may thus be seen. I have good reason to believe, that is, 
the testimony is such as I have no reason to doubt, save the 
strangeness of the fact, that I have myself been seen, in 
that state, by a gentleman in whom it frequently occurs. 
I mean that this took place before we ever met, and when 
he had only heard of me from another gentleman, who had 
corresponded with me on Animal Magnetism, but had never 
then seen me. That this kind of distant vision often occurs 
in the magnetic sleep, we have already seen. It is its oc- 
currence in the conscious state which is so remarkable. 
Probably, to judge from the accounts we have of them, the 
Highland seers were sometimes conscious, that is, while 
lucid, still retained their ordinary consciousness, and some- 
times in the magnetic sleep, or in a dreamy state closely 
allied to it, in which their consciousness might be more 
or less distinct and separated from their waking conscious- 
ness. 



PREDICTIONS. 215 

10. I have not, in treating of lucidity, mentioned, so 
fully as I am now enabled to do, the fact that Major Buck- 
ley generally produces the clairvoyance I have described, 
in which the clairvoyants read mottoes, &c, enclosed in 
boxes or nuts, and known to no one present, without causing 
magnetic sleep, or affecting consciousness. He has now 
produced this remarkable state and degree of lucidity in 89 
persons, most of whom belong to the upper, educated class. 
Major Buckley has most kindly furnished me with some 
details, w T hich will be found in Part II. I shall speak of 
his method of operating, when I come to the attempt to 
explain these phenomena. 

11. To return to the second sight. It is also said to 
extend to future events, and I am not prepared to deny the 
possibility of this. I have elsewhere referred to the pre- 
diction of a seer, which had become a universally believed 
tradition in the Highlands, that the male line of Mackenzie, 
Lord Seaforth, should be extinguished in the person of a 
" Caberfae," or head of the name, as in that clan he is 
called, who should be deaf and dumb. The last Lord Sea- 
forth, whom I have seen in his unfortunate condition, deaf, 
unable to speak articulately, and suffering from paralysis, 
w r as in his youth a man of uncommon ability, and free from 
any such defects. He had a large family, and several sons, 
all of whom died before him, so that the title is now extinct. 
The family is represented by the Hon. Mrs. Stewart Mac- 
kenzie of Seaforth. The prediction was current long before 
the events took place, how long I know T not ; but the period 
of its fulfilment was indicated by the seer as to be marked 
by the contemporaneous occurrence of certain physical pecu- 
liarities in one or two chiefs of other clans. These also 
occurred, as has often been affirmed to me ; and it is men- 
tioned in Lockhart's Life of Scott, that Mr. Morrit of 
Rokeby, being on a visit to Brahan Castle, the seat of the 
family of Seaforth, heard the tradition in all its details, 
while Lord Seaforth had yet several sons alive, and in per- 
fect health. 

12. A still more remarkable instance of prevision is that 
of M. de Cazotte, who, some years before the breaking out 
of the French Revolution, predicted, with great minuteness, 
its bloody character, and the precise fate of many noble- 
men, literary men and ladies, and even that of the King 



216 PROPHECY OF CAZOTTE. 

and Queen. This prediction, which was uttered at a time 
when all in Paris looked forward with confidence to the 
peaceful march of Reform, excited great sensation. It was 
communicated, by persons who were present, to friends in 
England, and became the topic of conversation in the highest 
circles, while no one believed in its fulfilment as probable or 
even possible. Persons are or lately were alive, who knew 
of it at that time. It has often been printed, and I shall 
give some account of it in Part II. Here I shall only ob- 
serve, that we have an account not only of the vision or 
tradition, as in the former case, but of the seer. And it is 
most important to remark a fact which, although often 
recorded, is omitted, as not essential to it, from many edi- 
tions of the story, that M. de Cazotte was frequently in the 
habit of uttering predictions ; and that, previous to doing 
so, he invariably fell into a state, which is described as a 
kind of sleep or dreaming, but not ordinary sleep. It was, 
doubtless, either the magnetic sleep, or a state of deep and 
dreamy abstraction, favorable to lucidity. I confess that 
this circumstance is, to me, the strongest evidence, if such 
were wanting, of the truth of the story. 

13. This leads me to allude, briefly, to the subject of 
popular traditionary prophecies, to which, especially as re- 
gards certain predictions long current in Germany, I ven- 
tured to draw public attention in an article in Blackwood's 
Magazine for May 1850. These predictions enter into very 
curious and often minute details, exactly resembling such as 
would be given of a distinct vision. They are generally 
described as having been seen by the prophets or seers, 
some of whom appear to have been what are called in West- 
phalia, Spoikenldker, that is, ghost-seers, in other words, 
highly sensitive to the magnetic influence. At all events, 
these ghost-seers are frequent in the country, and among the 
people, where the prophets also have appeared. 

The predictions above alluded to, refer in general to events 
to happen in Germany about this time, that is, soon after the 
introduction of railroads, and especially to a dreadful general 
war, in which the final conqueror, or great Monarch, is to be 
a young prince who rises up unexpectedly. The war is also 
to break out unexpectedly and suddenly, after a period of 
disturbance and revolutions, while all the world is crying, 
" Peace, peace." I need not here enter into more minute 



napoleon's prediction. 217 

details, for which I refer to the article above mentioned. I 
shall only add, that the state of Europe, and the events which 
have occurred since that paper appeared, are much in favor 
of the general accuracy of the predictions, whatever their 
origin. Time alone can show r , how far they are to be ful- 
filled. But their existence, as authentic and generally re- 
ceived traditions, is at all events a remarkable circumstance. 

It appears to me, that while some predictions, which are 
said to have been fulfilled, may have been nothing more 
than the deductions made by a superior intellect, contem- 
plating actual facts, and their most probable consequences, 
this explanation cannot apply to such as that concerning the 
Seaforth family, nor to that of M. de Cazotte; nor, should 
they be fulfilled, to many of those of the Westphalian and 
Rhenish seers, who are ignorant, illiterate peasants. 

Men, such as Napoleon, have hazarded predictions as to 
the inevitable occurrence of a great war, the end of which, 
according to Napoleon, would decide whether Europe was to 
be Cossack or Republican. But such guesses, dictated by 
profound reflection, or extensive knowledge of men and of 
politics, as well as of history, are always vague and general ; 
whereas the predictions above mentioned are not only precise 
and minute, in many cases, but are described as being seen 
in a trance, sleep, dream, or reverie, in short, as actual vi- 
sions, not deductions. That such visions, even if true pre- 
visions, may be mixed up with mere dreams, and exaggerated 
or otherwise disfigured by preconceived or suggested ideas, 
is very probable. But the cases above referred to, with their 
minute particularity, cannot be disposed of in this way. 
While, therefore, I doubt not that many spurious predictions 
have existed, I think we are entitled to admit, that genuine 
prevision or second sight is a possible occurrence as a spon- 
taneous fact, and that it is to be explained on the principles 
of Animal Magnetism. 

In my next Letter, I shall endeavor to show, that the 
explanation of the phenomena of Animal Magnetism is not 
so hopeless a matter as may at first sight be supposed. I 
have already pointed out, that we are unable to explain any 
natural fact, even the most familiar, in the sense of ascer- 
taining its ultimate cause. All that we can do, is to reduce 
or refer facts to certain natural laws, which, like that of 
gravitation, are nothing more than collective facts enabling 
19 



218 CAUSE OF ANIMAL MAGNETISM. 

us to see the law or rule, according to which the facts occur, 
but not throwing any light on the ultimate question, Why or 
how they occur? We know that the Sun and the Earth 
attract, or tend towards, each other with a force, which has 
been shown to vary, according to a certain rule, in propor- 
tion to the masses of matter which act, and to their distance 
from each other. But we know no more. We cannot tell 
why they should tend towards or attract each other ; nor 
what is the nature of the force ; nor how it operates ; but 
only that it does operate ; or rather, we know only that a 
fact occurs, and we ascribe it to a force, which we conceive 
to be the cause of it. Our explanations, in any branch of 
science, reach no farther than this ; and I propose to show, 
that we may, if we only study it, learn as much, in process 
of time, about the nature or cause of Animal Magnetism, as 
we know about Gravitation, Chemical Attraction, or Elec- 
tricity. 



LETTER XIII. 

Let us now try whether we can, by comparing the facts 
which have been ascertained, throw any light on the cause 
or causes of the phenomena of Animal Magnetism. It is 
well known that Mesmer ascribed the facts which he observed 
to a peculiar fluid, which he called the magnetic fluid. This 
he supposed to exist in the human body, as well as in the 
magnet, and he does not seem to have distinguished accu- 
rately between vital magnetism and what has recently been 
called ferro-magnetism, that power, namely, by which the 
magnet attracts iron-filings, and the magnetic needle, when 
freely suspended, points North and South. 

As it was soon and easily perceived, that the human hand 
does not attract iron-filings, and cannot give to the needle 
the property of pointing to the magnetic poles, it was rashly 
concluded that Mesmer's idea of a magnetic fluid, existing 
in the body, was altogether without foundation; and his facts 
were then rejected and denied. There can be little doubt 
that Mesmer and his followers were in a great measure to 



MESMER. PUYSEGUR. PETETIN. 219 

blame for this result. They shrouded their operations in 
mystery, and spoke with undue confidence on points of theory 
which had not been sufficiently investigated ; nor is the me- 
mory of Mesmer quite free from the reproach of a certain 
amount of charlatanism, and of having preferred his own 
personal interests to those of science. A not unnatural pre- 
judice was thus created against what he taught, and the pro- 
gress of truth was retarded. The reports of Animal Mag- 
netism by the various commissions of men of science appointed, 
in France, to examine it, although in some points favorable 
to the existence of facts well worthy of investigation, yet had 
on the whole an unfavorable effect, as the commissioners 
w T ere not successful in obtaining good evidence of the higher 
phenomena, and evidently leaned to the opinion that, in some 
cases, deceit was practised. Yet these reports were not de- 
cisive. Bertrand and Colquhoun have shown their imperfec- 
tions, and they are now seldom referred to by those w T ho 
know anything of the subject practically. 

On the other hand, the Marquis de Puysegur, who devoted 
his life to the practice of Animal Magnetism, and who was 
far above suspicion, continued to obtain, by the method of 
Mesmer, very remarkable results, especially in lucidity and 
the cure of disease. The experiments, also, of Dr. Petetin 
of Lyons, established the fact of the transference of several 
senses to the epigastrium as a spontaneous occurrence ; and 
in all countries, men continued quietly to study the subject, 
chiefly, however, with a view to its use as a remedy. No 
one undertook a regular inductive experimental investigation, 
but many facts were empirically observed. 

At last Baron von Beichenbach, about 1843 or 1844, was 
accidentally led to study the effects of magnets on suscepti- 
ble persons, at first, indeed, on such as were suffering from 
disease of the nervous system. This enquirer was peculiarly 
fitted for the task. To a thorough scientific training, and 
the reputation of an accurate observer and skilful experi- 
menter, amply justified by his many scientific memoirs, and 
his success in improving the manufacture of iron, he added 
the advantages of an acute and logical intellect, of habits of 
patient and persevering thought, and caution in drawing 
conclusions, as well as extreme conscientiousness in report- 
ing the facts observed. It was fortunate for science that his 
attention was directed to the subject. But I must here men- 



220 REICHENBACH. 

tion, that his experiments, so far as I know, were not made 
on persons in the magnetic sleep, but were rather confined 
to the influence exerted by magnets, crystals, the human 
hand, &c. &c, on persons in the natural waking condition. 
His object was, to begin at the beginning, and to lay a 
truly scientific and lasting foundation for more extended en- 
quiries. 

He began his investigations with a strong prejudice 
against the views of Mesmer, a prejudice universally diffused 
among the scientific men of Germany. But he was soon 
compelled by the force of facts, to admit some of the very 
statements which had been most repugnant to him. I may 
specify, the influence exerted by the magnet on the human 
frame ; the fact that water may be magnetised, so as to be 
known by the patient from ordinary water ; the action of 
the human hand ; its power of magnetising water as well as 
the magnet does ; and the appearance of light from the fin- 
gers of the operator. 

He now entered on a regular series of researches, con- 
tinued during nearly five years, and on upwards of 100 per- 
sons, in which he made the important discovery, that light, 
visible in the dark to sensitives in the waking state, is emit- 
ted not only by the hand, and by the magnet, but by crys- 
tals, and, in fact, by all bodies more or less. He further 
observed, that his sensitives, when in a cataleptic state, or 
in that of spontaneous somnambulism, became far more sen- 
sitive than before. He found, that heat, light, electricity, 
galvanism, chemical action, friction, animal life, and vegeta- 
tion, all caused emanations of the same light seen in the 
magnet, in crystals, and in the human hand. And he finally 
ascertained, that sensitiveness is not a morbid state, but is 
found in healthy persons, and that one person out of three is 
more or less sensitive, not indeed always to the light, but 
to the influence of magnets, &c, as proved by their sensa- 
tions. 

By these laborious researches, Reichenbach was finally 
compelled to adopt the hypothesis of a peculiar influence, or 
force, to which he has given the name of Odyle, and which 
he regards as the cause of all these phenomena. And he 
was also forced to admit that odyle is identical with the mag- 
netic fluid of Mesmer, that is, in so far as the latter differs 



ODYLE. r 221 

from ordinary or ferro-niagnetism, from which Mesmer failed 
to distinguish it. In magnets, odyle is associated with ferro- 
magnetism ; in light, with light ; in heat, with heat ; in 
electricity and galvanism, with the electric influence ; in 
crystals, &c. it is found alone, and, while analogous to all 
these imponderables, forces, influences, or fluids, as some of 
them are often called, it is distinct from all. 

The name given to this influence is a secondary matter. 
I have called it, in the preceding pages, Animal Magnetism, 
as being a name established and known, but if it is to have 
a new name, that of Odyle, which conveys no theoretical 
opinion, is preferable, and indeed unexceptionable. In re- 
gard to its nature, we know no more than we do of heat, 
light, electricity, galvanism, ferro-magnetism, chemical ac- 
tion, cohesion, gravitation, &c. We may call it a force, as 
we do chemical action, gravitation, and cohesion ; or a fluid, 
as we speak of the electric, galvanic, or ferro-magnetic fluids ; 
or an imponderable, as we call heat, light, electricity, and 
magnetism. It may be essentially a motion in the particles 
of matter, as heat and chemical action are supposed to be ; 
or a motion in the particles of some subtle ether, as light is 
now considered ; perhaps even of the same ether, if such 
exist. All this may, or may not be. What we know is 
only that certain facts occur, and we cannot, from the consti- 
tution of our minds, avoid referring these to a force or in- 
fluence, which, when the phenomena are carefully studied, 
is found not to be identical with any of the other influences 
or forces above mentioned, and must therefore have a name 
to itself. 

It is quite possible, and even probable, that many, or all 
of these influences, may, in the progress of our knowledge, 
be referred to one and the same common cause or principle. 
But till such a common principle be discovered, the attempt 
to classify the phenomena of odyle under any other impon- 
derable, such as heat or light, electricity or ferro-magnetism, 
would only lead to hopeless confusion. And even after such 
a common principle shall have been discovered, it will be 
necessary to classify these different phenomena, as different 
modifications or phases of it. 

For these reasons, I shall use the terms odyle and odylic 
in discussing the subject theoretically ; premising, that I 

19* 



222 ODYLIC PHENOMENA. 

use odyle as synonymous with what has been called Animal 
Magnetism in the foregoing Letters. 



The odylic influence, like that of heat, light, and elec- 
tricity, is universally diffused. In regard to Ferro-magnet- 
ism, that force was long supposed to be confined to certain 
bodies, such as the loadstone, and two or three metals. But 
even then, the earth was necessarily regarded as a vast mag- 
net. The beautiful discoveries of Faraday, however, have 
shown, that, in a modified form, called by him diamagnetism, 
because bodies under its influence place themselves, when 
freely suspended, at right angles to the magnetic meridian, 
ordinary magnetism is possessed by all bodies. And his 
most recent discovery, that oxygen gas is attracted by the 
magnet, is a pregnant proof that our knowledge of this 
force, and of its effects on our earth and atmosphere, admits 
of indefinite extension. I need hardly point out, that the 
discovery of diamagnetism harmonises well with the earlier 
discovery of Reichenbach, that all bodies act on sensitive 
persons, and give out luminous emanations, as the magnet 
does. 

The universal diffusion of the odylic influence naturally 
leads to the anticipation, that, like heat, light, &c, it must 
exercise some action on the human body. That it does so, 
has been experimentally demonstrated, and may at any time 
be proved by the action of crystals on the sensitive. 

Like heat and light, odyle is transmitted through, or 
traverses space, by what may be called radiation, and is 
also, like heat and electricity, conducted through bodies. It 
appears to travel less rapidly than light ; but it is conducted 
through matter much more rapidly than heat. It passes 
readily through all known substances, but with somewhat 
less facility through fibrous or interrupted than continuous 
structures. Thus paper or wood are not traversed so easily 
by it as some other bodies, but cannot long arrest it. Heat 
passes, very slowly through most bodies excepting metals ; 
and electricity is arrested by most non-metallic bodies, and 
is indeed only well conducted by metals, charcoal, and cer- 
tain liquids. 

Odyle may be, to a certain extent, accumulated in a sub- 
stance, but is slowly dissipated again. The body charged 



ODYLE IS POLAR. 223 

with it retains the charge longer than does one charged with 
electricity. 

Like electricity and magnetism, odyle has a strong tend- 
ency to a polar distribution. Thus, in magnets, in crystals, 
and in the human body, it is polar, and the opposite poles 
exhibit distinct modifications. In bodies confusedly crys- 
tallised, and in amorphous bodies, the polar arrangement 
cannot be observed. 

Like heat, light, electricity, and magnetism, odyle tends 
to a state of equilibrium, and its external manifestations 
seem to depend chiefly on the disturbance of this equili- 
brium. Just as a hot body, radiating more heat than it 
receives, soon comes to an equilibrium of temperature with 
the surrounding bodies, so does a body, odylically excited 
or charged, tend to, and ultimately attain, an equilibrium of 
odylic force with the surrounding bodies. And just as ferro- 
magnetism is found polar and active in a magnet, which is 
in a certain ferro-magnetic state, a state we may call a pe- 
culiar disturbance of equilibrium in the ferro-magnetic force; 
so, in a body odylically polar, and odylically active, such as 
a magnet, a crystal, or the human body, we may suppose a 
like peculiar arrangement or distribution of the odylic force, 
the results only of which, and not its precise nature, are 
known to us. 

Such is a very brief and popular sketch of the nature of 
that influence to which I consider we must, in the present 
state of our knowledge, refer the phenomena of Animal 
Magnetism. But while I have endeavored to show that 
odyle is to be ranked with the known imponderable agents, 
I am quite aware that we know comparatively little of the 
laws by which it is regulated. The observations made on 
persons artificially magnetised, or mesmerised, have hitherto 
been almost entirely empirical, and have not been guided by 
a plan of research. Those on natural somnambulists have 
been accidental and imperfect ; and the little that we do 
know on the subject, w T e owe entirely to the researches of 
Reichenbach, made on persons in the ordinary state. These 
researches have laid a firm and lasting foundation for future 
investigations, but it must be remembered that the subject 
has peculiar difficulties. 

First, there is the fact, that hitherto the observer has not 
been able to examine the most important facts by the aid of 



224 DIFFICULTIES OF THE INVESTIGATION. 

his own senses, but has had to trust to the sensations of 
others, In my Preface to the translation of Reichenbach, 
I have endeavored to prove, that this is no argument 
against the observations, if made with due care, and on a 
sufficient number of persons. There are many facts, ad- 
mitted and reasoned upon in all sciences, by those who have 
not personally seen them, and know them only by the re- 
ports of those who have. Nor is there any reason why this 
should be less practicable in odylic enquiries than in others, 
for example, in geology, geography, meteorology, and above 
all, in medicine. Many facts in medicine rest exclusively 
on the testimony of the patient, whose descriptions the phy- 
sician cannot test, save by comparing them with those of 
other patients, or with those of the same patient at another 
time. Every thing, in medicine as well as in researches on 
odyle, depends on the sagacity, knowledge, experience, and 
honesty of the observer or physician, who, if he cannot dis- 
tinguish false statements from true, after a little experience, 
is not well qualified for such observations. An observer 
possessing the necessary qualifications, will not find this 
difficulty insuperable ; but it is a difficulty, and should stimu- 
late us to increased ardor and perseverance in the pursuit 
of truths, which are at once more interesting and difficult 
of attainment than many others. The difficulty, however, 
becomes daily less by practice, because we learn the neces- 
sary precautions against illusion ; and our increasing know- 
ledge of the phenomena enables us to detect fallacies and to 
avoid sources of error. 

Secondly, we do not yet possess any means of collecting, 
accumulating, and concentrating the odylic force, as we can 
do in the case of magnetism and electricity. The odyle 
which, in the magnet, accompanies ferro-magnetism, is, 
indeed, more powerful in proportion to the force of the mag- 
net, but, even in the most powerful magnet yet tried, it has 
not reached so high a degree of intensity as would be re- 
quired to enable us duly to investigate its properties with 
ease and complete success. One great desideratum is an 
odylic battery, just as we have a galvanic battery- Since 
chemical action gives rise to odyle, it is probably in some 
form of chemical action that we shall find the means of con- 
structing such a battery, and when we shall have thus ob- 
tained the power of odylically affecting every man, a vast 
step will be gained. 



EFFECTS OF ODYLE. 225 

Thirdly we have not yet obtained, as in heat, light, elec- 
tricity, galvanism, or magnetism, a convenient and accurate 
means of measuring the quantity or intensity of odylic 
force. We do not possess any substance, which is so affected 
by odyle, that its consequent changes may be rigidly mea- 
sured and referred to a standard. But if we reflect, that 
odyle has only just been discovered as a physical agent, and 
that the galvanometer and photometer are but recent inven- 
tions, while daily improvements are made in all our instru- 
ments for measuring electricity, light, and the other ana- 
logous forces, the natural conclusion is, that a diligent study 
of all the properties of this new force, will ere long yield us 
an odylometer. It is not improbable that it may be of an 
animal nature, since the most marked property of odyle is 
its peculiar action on the nervous system. But whatever 
its nature, such a discovery would at once do the work of a 
century in promoting the progress of odylic science. Let 
us hope that it will not be long delayed. 

In the meantime, let us examine whether we cannot turn 
to some account the knowledge which we already possess 
of odyle and of its manifestations, in accounting for the 
phenomena of Animal Magnetism in a natural way. 

1. If the human body be a perpetual fountain of odylic 
force, in virtue of the chemical changes at all times going 
on within it, in the processes of respiration, digestion, assi- 
milation, excretion, secretion, muscular and nervous action, 
&c, and if any body, containing odyle, radiates it to all 
other bodies, it is easy to see how the vicinity of a vigorous 
healthy person may powerfully affect one sensitive to odylic 
influence. 

2. If the odyle in the human body be polar, and if, as is 
the case, according to Reichenbach, the hands be the chief 
or primary poles (there are, as in crystals, secondary axes 
and poles, but in man the transverse axis is the principal 
one), then we can easily understand how the hand should 
be so powerful in producing magnetic, that is, odylic effects, 
as we find it to be. This is confirmed by the fact that light 
is seen to issue from the points of the fingers, not only by 
sensitives in the ordinary waking state, but still more vividly 
by persons in the magnetic sleep. 

3. These persons, of both classes, also see light proceed- 
ing from the eyes and mouth, which are also subordinate 



226 CURRENTS OF ODYLE, 

foci of odyle, the eyes being, as the hands, and indeed the 
halves of the body are, oppositely polar. Hence the efficacy 
of gazing, or fascination, and of breathing on the head or 
over the heart of the patient, with the mouth close to the 
parts, the breath being highly charged with odyle. 

4. Supposing a current of odyle, like that of galvanic 
electricity in an open circuit, to tend to pass from the posi- 
tive or + pole, through any interposed body, to the nega- 
tive or — pole, then, as the left hand is odylo-negative, 
and the right positive, the odylic current must pass from 
the right hand, through any substance held in the hands, or 
touched by them, to the left hand, thence up the left arm, 
through the chest, and so down the right arm, till the cir- 
cuit is completed. When the circuit is not closed, as we 
close it by joining the hands, or by holding a conductor 
with them, the odylic current does not take place, just as 
in an open galvanic circuit; the odylic force is in a state of 
tension, and polar, that is, strongest at the poles. 

If now the operator, in whom a similar state of tension 
exists as in the patient, takes hold of his hands, right in 
left, and left in right, which is the natural or normal way, 
the current from his right hand, the patient acting as a con- 
ductor, and closing the circuit, will flow into the patient's 
left hand, up his left arm, through the chest, down the right 
arm, thence to the operator's left hand, up his left arm, 
through his chest, and down his right arm, thus completing 
the circuit. 

This current is very strongly felt by the sensitive, and 
as it harmonises with, and is added to their own, the sen- 
sations are agreeable, although they often become too vio- 
lent, and if continued would cause, in some cases, fainting 
or convulsions. This general fact, observed by Reichen- 
bach in waking sensitives, I have often confirmed, as to the 
great power and agreeable nature of the sensation, which 
is often compared, by the patient, to something flowing ex- 
actly in the direction described. 

5. But if the operator's hands be crossed, before he takes 
hold of the patient's, then the two currents are opposed, 
instead of being united. The result is, that a species of 
contest occurs, accompanied by sensations so horrible, that 
very sensitive persons cannot endure the experiment for a 
minute, and can hardly ever be persuaded to allow it to be 



THE MAGNETIC SLEEP. 227 

repeated. This remarkable fact, observed by Reichenbach, 
I can confirm to the fullest extent ; having been fortunate 
enough to meet with a highly sensitive patient, "who, when 
I tried the experiment, without saying one word to her, tore 
away her hands after a few seconds, and declared the sen- 
sation to be so intolerable, that, had it continued only a few 
seconds longer, she must have fainted and been convulsed. 
No entreaties nor bribes could induce her to let me repeat 
the trial ; indeed her expressions were almost verbatim those 
of one of Reichenbach's most sensitive patients, and this 
poor woman had never heard either of him or of his book, 
which at that time, early in 1846, was not yet known in this 
country. In a less striking degree, I have seen the same 
fact in many other cases. 

6. It is obvious that the action of magnets and crystals, 
both of which are polar, on the patient, admits of the same 
explanation. Both, in fact, cause currents, differing accord- 
ing to the pole held in the hand, or to the hand which holds 
the pole. The pole, which causes a cold sensation in the 
right hand, produces a warm one in the left, and vice versa. 
This I have verified more than a hundred times. 

Non-polar bodies are altogether, according to their nature, 
cold or warm to the patient. It is odylo-negative bodies 
which are generally cold, such as oxygen, acids, &c. ; and 
odylo-positive bodies which are warm, such as hydrogen, 
alkalies, &c. 

7. With regard to what is called the magnetic state, 
whether that extend to magnetic sleep or not, we may at- 
tempt to explain it in the following manner. Ordinary sleep 
has been proved by Reichenbach to be connected with a 
change in the distribution of the odylic influence in the body. 
During sleep, the head, generally, is less odylically charged 
than in the waking hours. For details, I refer to the work 
of Reichenbach. Now, by the action of the operator, who, 
whether by passes, gazing, or contact, throws some of 
his odyle into the system of the patient, a change is pro- 
duced in the relative amounts of odyle in different parts of 
the body or of the head, or, in other words, the distribution 
as well as the absolute quantity of odyle in the patient is 
changed. The precise nature of the change is not known; 
but we can readily conceive how, if different from the nor- 
mal nightly change, as it undoubtedly is, it may produce a 



238 SOMNAMBULISM. SUGGESTION. 

peculiar kind of sleep, in which the intellect remains awake, 
while the external senses are drowned in slumber. Such is 
the general view I would propose to take of the production 
of the magnetic state, and of the sleep. The essential 
character of it I take to be this, that while most or all of 
the external senses are cut off from action on the sensorium, 
the internal senses are, perhaps in consequence of this, 
more alive than usual to odylic impressions of all kinds. It 
is certain, that persons in the magnetic sleep, or somnam- 
bulists, spontaneous or artificial, are always highly sensitive 
to odylic impressions, such as the light, the sensations of 
heat and cold, fee. Such persons as are moderately sensi- 
tive in the waking state, often become, in the state of som- 
nambulism, sensitives of the highest order. 

8. I would regard the spontaneous occurrence of som- 
nambulism as nothing more than the spontaneous occurrence 
of that peculiar distribution of odyle which is caused in the 
magnetic processes, but without any addition to its quantity. 
And the same view will apply to the impressible state pro- 
duced by Dr. Darling's process, as well as to the magnetic 
sleep of Mr. Braid's method, in neither of which is odyle 
added from without. 

9. The power of the operator over the volition, sensa- 
tions, perceptions, memory, and imagination of his subject, 
when the latter is in the magnetic or odylic sleep, and with- 
out any suggestion, may be supposed to depend on the odylic 
force of the operator being superior to that of the patient, 
while, from the conductibility and ubiquity of odyle, the 
operator continues in communication with that portion 
which has passed into the system of the patient. If odyle 
be the nervous force, or vital force, and it is at least as 
likely to be so as electricity, then it may be the odyle of the 
operator, overpowering that of the patient, which moves the 
muscles and determines the sensations, fee. of the latter. 

10. The attraction of the patient towards the operator, 
both mental and physical, may be explained on the same 
principle. This supposition, as well as the preceding ones, 
receive considerable support from the fact that the sleeper 
constantly speaks of a light round his magnetiser, or of a 
luminous vapor, which extends to and embraces himself. 

All the facts ascertained in regard to odyle point to an 
external influence, passing from one body to another; and 



SYMPATHY. THOUGHT-KEADING. 229 

here we have a visible something, which is seen to pass, not 
only from the points of the fingers, but from the whole per- 
son, of the magnetiser, to that of his patient. 

11. The disagreeable and injurious effects of cross-mag- 
netism arise, or rather may be supposed to arise, partly 
from the conflict of different odylic influences, and partly 
from the accidental reversal of currents, which must often 
occur, when others take hold of the patient's hands, or 
touch him in various ways. The facts are notorious to all 
who have looked at the subject. 

12. The antipathy of the sleeper to certain objects or 
persons probably depends on the strong and disagreeable 
odylic sensations they cause, according to whether they are 
negative or positive in reference to him. 

13. Sympathy most probably depends on the harmonious 
action of the odylic force of the operator, or of any other 
person, on the temporarily exalted odylic state of the pa- 
tient. And we may, without much difficulty, conceive odyle 
to be the medium through which the impressions of sympa- 
thy are conveyed. 

The existence of sympathy cannot be doubted. It is con- 
stantly seen in spontaneous manifestation, as I have already 
mentioned. Nay, it is often used, by those who are unwil- 
ling to admit the existence of direct clairvoyance, as furnish- 
ing an explanation of that phenomenon less repugnant to 
their preconceived opinions. Such persons, rather than 
admit that the clairvoyant posseses the power of vision with- 
out the use of the external eye, at once adopt or even sug- 
gest the hypothesis of such a degree of sympathy with the 
operator, as enables the subject to read all his thoughts with 
perfect accuracy. They do not stop to enquire whether 
this be in reality less wonderful, or less unaccountable on 
ordinary principles, than the notion of direct clairvoyance ; 
nor do they consider that such sympathy is as truly a new 
sense as any thing can possibly be. But all men know, that 
sympathy, to a very remarkable degree, is a daily recurring 
fact, and, although quite unable to explain it, having never 
perhaps thought on the subject, they embrace it at once as 
a refuge from the obnoxious idea of direct clairvoyance. 

I need hardly remind you here, that, even if we admit, 
as I unequivocally do, sympathy and thought-reading as 
sufficient to explain, if they be admitted, many instances of 
20 



280 ODYLE THE PROBABLE MEDIUM 

clairvoyance, namely, such, as I have called sympathetic, 
mediate, or indirect clairvoyance, yet there are many facts 
which this explanation will not reach. 

I wish, in this place, only to point out, that, admitting 
sympathy, odyle is most probably the agent or medium. 
The odylic atmosphere of the operator, and that of the sub- 
ject, interpenetrating each other, and the former predomi- 
nating over the latter, the subject becomes, for the time, a 
partaker in the thoughts and feelings of the operator ; and 
thus, although the details of the process are shrouded, at 
present, from our sight, thought-reading is brought about. 
I have no doubt that such sympathy does occur, and I con- 
sider it highly probable, that the explanation here suggested, 
as far as it goes, is the true one. Of course, I understand 
it to apply to spontaneous, as well as to artificially excited 
sympathy. It is obvious, that to an influence like odyle, 
as to light, distance may be a matter of no importance. If 
odyle exist, it traverses space, as light does ; only, as ap- 
pears from the observations of Reichenbaeh, not quite so 
rapidly. 

14. We now come to the explanation of direct or imme- 
diate, or true clairvoyance, which I have already given my 
reasons for admitting, as an ascertained fact, whether we 
can explain it or not. 

The phenomenon is the great stumbling-block. Some boldly 
declare that they never ivill believe it, forgetting that belief 
is involuntary, and that, on sufficient evidence, they must, 
if they attend to that evidence, believe it. In my opinion, 
after reading, I will not say the whole recorded evidence, 
but as much of it as I could procure, the recorded evidence 
of the fact is sufficient. But I have not expressed that 
belief, until after I had seen it myself. Now I have ob- 
served two things among those highly estimable persons who 
do not yet admit the fact of direct clairvoyance. The first 
is, that they are, in general, quite unacquainted with the 
recorded evidence. The second is, that their objections, 
when sifted, always assume ultimately the shape of an asser- 
tion, that it is impossible, or that, as it cannot be accounted 
for, it must be rejected. I might add a third, namely, that 
these persons have rarely, if ever, investigated the matter 
for themselves. Now I do not quarrel with the philosophic 
caution which declines to adopt an entirely new and start- 



OE SYMPATHY AND CLAIRVOYANCE. 231 

ling fact, unless on unexceptionable evidence, or on ocular 
demonstration. But when the witnesses are numerous, their 
character unimpeached, and the fact not physically or ma- 
thematically impossible, caution is not entitled to go further 
than to say, "I am not satisfied; I must enquire into these 
things." The most cautious philosopher has no right abso- 
lutely to reject facts thus attested, because he cannot see 
their explanation; and, above all, he has no right to brand 
the witnesses with the charge of deceit or imposture, ivithout 
full and careful enquiry. If he will not, or cannot, investi- 
gate, let him, in decency, be silent. I do not invent; I 
speak of what happens every clay ; and I say, that those 
men of science who, declining to investigate, have neverthe- 
less fulminated denial and accusations of falsehood against 
those who have investigated, have not acted on the golden 
rule, " Do unto others as ye would that they should do unto 
you," and their conduct is as illogical and irrational as it is 
unjust and impolitic. 

But while I protest against this conduct, on the part of 
men of science, who ought to know better, I make every 
allowance for those not trained to scientific pursuits, many 
of whom, unwittingly confounding belief and understand- 
ing, really have a difficulty in admitting any thing for which 
a plausible explanation cannot be found. I have more than 
once pointed out, that if we were to reject all that we can- 
not explain, little indeed, if anything, would be left ; and 
that our explanations are, at best, but attempts to classify 
phenomena under natural laws, of which we know no more, 
than that they exist or appear to us to do so. Yet such 
explanations are of great use in facilitating the apprehen- 
sion of scientific truths, and therefore I shall now endeavor 
to give such an imperfect explanation of clairvoyance as 
occurs to me, in the present state of our knowledge, as being 
admissible. It is only an attempt, however, and is not to 
be regarded as truth, but only as an allowable hypothesis. 
It is again to odyle that I refer, as the cause or rather 
medium of the manifestations of this kind of vision. 

First, let me remind you, that the first observation of 
many lucid persons is, that they see, with closed eyes, the 
operator's hand, as well as his person, and other objects, 
and that all are luminous ; indeed they are often described 
as surrounded by a luminous vapor or atmosphere, which, 



232 ODYLIC EMANATIONS 

as I have already mentioned, embraces the subject, and 
mixes with his own atmosphere. Now I think this is clearly 
an odylic phenomenon. The objects seen are seen in odylic 
light, to which lucid persons are invariably highly sensitive. 

Secondly ; the eyes are not used, but the objects, if not 
clearly seen, are placed on the head or forehead, commonly 
on the anterior coronal surface. I have seen a clairvoyante, 
who, in trying to write, looks at the paper with the top of 
her head close to it, her eyes closed and useless from their 
position. I have a specimen of writing thus executed by 
her. She is the same, who, when she wishes to place an 
object, such as a letter or lock of hair, " right before her 
eyes," places it in contact with the anterior coronal region 
of her head. If odyle or odylic light be here the agent, 
the cranium is no barrier to its passage to the brain, for 
odyle traverses all solid bodies that have been tried. 

Thirdly; when distant objects are seen, the clairvoyant, 
if asked how he sees them, often speaks of a luminous cloud 
or fog, extending from them towards him, and joining a 
similar cloud from himself; in this combined cloud he then 
sees the object, at first dim and grey, afterwards plain and 
in its natural colors. This description tallies well with our 
hypothesis of the universal diffusion of odyle as the medium 
for lucid perception. 

All this may be learned from the accounts given of their 
own sensations, given by intelligent lucid subjects, and it 
corresponds closely to the statement, on many points, of the 
sensitives of Reichenbach, who were in the waking condition. 

15. Now, if we would proceed a little further, and en- 
deavor to discover how lucid perception is obtained, I must 
again remind you of an opinion, which is not new, that every 
influence emitted by any body acts, so to speak, on all other 
bodies. The heat, light, electricity, and sound, emitted by 
any bodies, fall upon all other bodies, and consequently on 
our organs of sense, but so weakened as to be utterly over- 
looked among the stronger impressions caused by nearer 
objects of sense. 

16. Now, let us suppose that the odylic emanations, which 
appear certainly to be emitted by all bodies, fall on our 
inner sense, they also are entirely overlooked, in persons of 
ordinary sensitiveness, because they are very feeble, when 
compared with those of sight, hearing, smell, taste, and 



REACH THE SENSORIUM. 233 

touch. The sensitive, however, perceive thein, when their 
attention is directed to them, and under favorable circum- 
stances ; and the lucid are always very highly sensitive. 

17. Next, let us see what happens in the magnetic sleep. 
In that state, the two most marked characters are, the clos- 
ing of some one or more of the external senses, especially 
of sight, and of hearing, (for ail sounds save the operator's 
voice,) the two which are constantly receiving impressions 
from without. The consequence is, that the inner sense, no 
longer distracted by the coarse impressions of these senses, 
becomes alive to the finer odylic emanations, (which do not 
require the usual modes of access, as we have seen,) and 
may even perceive the faint pulses or reverberations of the 
distant sights, sounds, &c, alluded to in the last paragraph 
but one, the odylic atmosphere aiding perhaps to convey 
them by their new route. If the subject be highly sensitive, 
and the external senses closed, he is in the very best con- 
dition for lucid perception ; but the impressions he notices 
are not new; they were formerly overlooked because of their 
faintness ; they are now attended to because of their inten- 
sity; for they are the strongest of all that now reach the 
sensorium. 

18. One powerful argument in favor of this view is de- 
rived from the fact, that the lucid state occurs spontaneously, 
and is then always preceded by abstraction, concentration 
of thought, reverie, sleep, or somnambulism, all of which 
states render us more or less dead to the impressions of the 
external senses, and, by consequence, alive to odylic im- 
pressions. 

19. I may here allude to the state of conscious lucidity, 
which, as I have mentioned, some individuals can produce 
in themselves; and this is always done by concentration or 
abstraction; and which Major Buckley has been so success- 
ful in producing in others. I presume some part of his 
process implies concentration of thought; but it is truly 
remarkable, that the chief part of it, after lucidity has ap- 
peared, consists in his making passes over his own face, 
and over or towards the object to be deciphered. Both 
manipulations are said by the clairvoyantes, to shed a flood 
of blue light (negative odylic light) over the object. Too 
many passes render the blue too deep, and reverse passes 
clear it up again. 

20* 



234 ODYLIC TRACES FOLLOWED UP 

20. Clairvoyants who see the intimate structure of their 
own bodies, or those of others, often describe the frame as 
bathed in beautiful light, and entirely transparent to them. 
This accords, in a remarkable manner, with the observa- 
tion of Reichenbach's sensitives, to whom a thick bar of 
iron, shining in odylic glow, appeared transparent like glass. 

21. When a clairvoyant takes into his hand a lock of 
hair or a letter, it would appear, that the odylic emanations 
adhering to these bodies, according to the account given by 
lucid subjects, enable them to trace and discover the person 
to whom they belong. Can it be that the hair and the 
writing are never totally disconnected from him, and con- 
tinue in odylic communication with him ? Certain it is, not 
only that he is thus discovered, but that much confusion 
and difficulty occur when the objects have been handled by 
various persons. The clairvoyant sometimes sees the last 
person who touched them, but recognises, by an instinctive 
feeling, at least in many cases, that that is not the right 
person. He often requests the operator, by certain mani- 
pulations, to banish the intruding images, and never hesi- 
tates about the right one when found. 

22. I have been informed by a gentleman, who is able to 
bring himself into the conscious lucid state, and in that 
state to see persons quite unknown to him, at a distance, 
that he can only compare the process by which he finds the 
person asked for, to that by which a dog, liberated from 
confinement, traces his master. He first finds the (odylic) 
trace in the enquirer's mind, then follows it back to the 
point where the person asked for last parted with the en- 
quirer. From this point he pursues only the trace of the 
former, and soon finds him. I regard this observation, on 
which I have every reason to place entire reliance, as ex- 
tremely interesting and important, in reference to the theo- 
retical enquiry. And when similar observations shall have 
been multiplied, we may hope to advance much further. 

23. When a clairvoyant sees past events, we may suppose 
that he follows their (odylic) traces upward, instead of 
downward, from a given point. Here our theory agrees 
with that old one, which maintains that every event leaves 
an indelible trace, which continues to exist as long as the 
world to which the event belongs. In point of fact, in 



BY LUCID SUBJECTS. 235 

magnetic experiments "with, hair and with writing, past 
events are described every day as vividly as present ones, 
whatever may ultimately prove to be the medium of com- 
munication; and this, too, where the action of sympathy 
with the operator or enquirer is excluded. 

24. We may apply the same principles to the explanation 
of witchcraft, magic, and sorcery, as practised in various 
countries from the earliest periods. I have already alluded 
to this when considering the application of Animal Magnet- 
ism, and I have there given my reasons for not entering 
fully into the interesting historical questions connected with 
it, which are in far better hands, in those of the author of 
Isis Eevelata. 

It is evident that the priests of India, Egypt, and Greece, 
were well acquainted with Animal Magnetism, and that they 
had probably various methods of producing artificial clair- 
voyance. The Egyptians, as is proved by paintings, used 
processes like our modern ones ; and it is well known that 
soft music, a dim light, and fumigations, were used by ma- 
gicians in all countries. Heathen tradition and mythology 
contain many traces of Animal Magnetism. Thus the 
transformations of the gods into men and animals are 
founded on the power possessed by the magnetiser over the 
mind of his subject, even in the conscious state. I have 
seen this power, in regard to the perceptions of the patient, 
who was all the time quite conscious, so complete that he 
was made to believe the operator to be any other man, or 
any animal, or any inanimate object; and also to believe 
the same of any third person. 

Now, our present knowledge of these matters is quite in 
its infancy, and there would be nothing marvellous or incre- 
dible in the news that some one had discovered, or redis- 
covered, the means of bringing any number of persons, at 
pleasure, into the impressible state in which suggestion acts 
so powerfully, and of acting on all at one time. By such 
means, jailors might be eluded, and he who had the secret 
might escape from a room full of people eager to catch him, 
by simply deceiving or deranging their perceptions by such 
subjective metamorphoses, which they could not but firmly 
believe in. The ring of tradition, which conferred invisi- 
bility, is easily matched now-a-days; for nothing is so easy 
as for the magnetiser to render himself, and any other per- 



236 SUGGESTION EXPLAINS MUCH 

son or object, invisible to those under his control. The 
power of acquiring, silently, this control over several at 
once is, as I have said, now a desideratum ; but that deside- 
ratum may soon be discovered, if sought for. I saw, two 
days ago, a gentleman made, by Dr. Darling, without any 
preparation whatever, but just as he entered the room, to 
believe a watch to be a turnip, a friend to be a lamp-post, 
and a huge balloon to ascend majestically from the floor, 
&c. From this, it is hardly a step to seeing the witch as- 
cend on her broomstick, or the devil flying through the air 
to the Brocken on the back of a goat. 

We can readily understand how any one, possessed of this 
knowledge in an age of ignorance, might acquire the repu- 
tation of being a bought slave to Satan, from whom, at the 
cost of his soul, he had obtained his powers. Nay, we can 
even imagine the story of the Devil and Dr. Faustus to be 
merely an allegorical warning against the risk, to him who 
too curiously pries into the mysteries of nature, of losing 
his hold on religion and his hopes of a future existence — an 
opinion not yet extinct. 

25. Possession, which was universally believed in, was 
obviously founded on the occurrence, spontaneously, per- 
haps as a symptom of nervous disease, of a high degree of 
magnetic susceptibility. The patient saw and felt whai; no 
one else did. He believed himself, as others believed him, 
to be under the influence of an evil demon. If subject to 
extasis, he saw in his vision the spirit that possessed him. 

26. Clairvoyance was doubtless used, or abused, to inspire 
confidence in the sorcerer. When he could truly describe 
absent and unknown persons, unknown places, the events 
there occurring, nay, the very thoughts of the enquirer's 
mind, and the desires of his heart, he might easily pass for 
a prophet, even without prevision. An adroit use of the 
present, known perhaps by clairvoyance to him alone, might 
convince the world of his power to read the future. 

The magic of the modern Egyptians, as Miss Martineau 
has concluded, depends on clairvoyance. The boys who see 
are chosen, because the young are most susceptible. An 
operation is performed, including fumigations, which, when 
tried on Miss Martineau, produced to a certain degree the 
well-known sensation of being magnetised. The boys are 
then told to gaze at a surface of ink on the palm of the 



OF MAGIC OR WITCHCRAFT. 237 

hand. Now, we know that gazing thus, without the ink, as 
in Dr. Darling's method, produces a magnetic state, and 
even the' sleep; while Major Buckley produces clairvoyance, 
and that too in the conscious state, by a process as easy. 
Probably, some passes are also made, and the boys, becom- 
ing lucid, see and describe, often by thought-reading, the 
persons asked for. That they sometimes fail and blunder 
is what happens in all such experiments, if genuine, both 
because the subjects are of his unequal power, and because 
even a good subject varies in power. But it is not possi- 
ble to doubt that they often succeed, although, no doubt, 
there are sham magicians and spurious subjects occasionally. 
The ink serves chiefly as a mirror, but may also act in 
virtue of its odylic influence in aiding the induction of the 
magnetic state. 

27. The magic crystal belongs to the same category. 
The high odylic virtue of rock crystal seems to have been 
known to the adepts of the middle ages ; and crystals were 
cut into a round or oval shape, that they might act as 
mirrors. Several of such crystals, said to be magic ones, 
exist in this country. It is now pretty generally known 
that one of these, said, on what authority I do not know, 
to have belonged to the magicians Dee and Kelly, who cer- 
tainly had one, came into the possession of a noble lady, 
distinguished in the literary world, who has died since that 
time. She was told it was a magic crystal, but could not 
discover any of its powers. At the sale of her effects, it 
was purchased by a gentleman who knew its history. One 
day, on entering the room, he found a group of children 
round it, who declared that the crystal was alive ; and it 
appeared that they saw in it the images of absent persons, 
it is said, even of such as they had never seen, and of some 
that were dead. I cannot vouch for the details of this story, 
however, and I shall only say, that I am not prepared to re- 
ject the statements made concerning the crystal, although 
they may have been distorted and exaggerated. 

I conceive, that when the children gazed at it, its odylic 
influence, added to the effect of gazing, may have thrown 
them into a conscious magnetic or lucid state; and that these 
visions appeared in the crystal because they were looking 
into it. The subject requires to be rigorously investigated, 
and in the meantime we must suspend our judgment. 



238 THE MAGIC CRYSTAL. 

I have been informed of two other magic crystals, both of 
which are said, in the same way, to act on children. A fourth 
is now in my possession, and I hope to obtain its history. I 
am trying its effects on children, and will give the results in 
Part II. But I have tried it on a young gentleman in the 
magnetic lucid sleep, who, without knowing what it was, as 
I put it into his left hand after he was asleep, saw in it, the 
first time, a light, which was so bright as to be painful, and 
was accompanied by a very strong odylic sensation up his 
arm, so that he disliked it. Another time he found the light 
not so painful (I rather think the crystal was in his right 
hand), and expressed great delight at its beauty. With shut 
eyes, he described it as full of bright bands, confusedly cross- 
ing each other, of the most splendid rainbow colors. On 
further enquiry, or rather, on leaving him to himself, he 
began to speak of lucid visions, which, although caused by 
the crystal, and quite distinct from his usual ones, he did 
not see in the crystal, but felt as if transported to the places 
he described. He began, and without my asking him any 
questions whatever, to speak of a very remarkable man, 
whom he saw, and whom he connected, in some way, with 
the crystal. I shall give in Part II. some curious details 
about this man, whom my clairvoyant repeatedly visited, till, 
in consequence of his illness, I could make no further expe- 
riments with him. I found the same crystal to be strongly 
felt by other magnetised persons, who also saw light from jt, 
with their eyes shut. 

It has lately been said, by various observers, that suscep- 
tible persons, looking into a glass of magnetised water, see 
clairvoyant visions. While I write this, I have been in- 
formed of some experiments of a very satisfactory nature 
with the crystal above referred to as having been for a few 
days in my possession. These I shall give in Part II., along 
with any other facts that I can obtain in reference to the 
action of mirrors, crystals, or magnetised water. 

28. I have been informed on good authority, that round 
or oval masses of glass are made in England, and sold at a 
high price, to the ignorant, for the purposes of divination. 
The persons who sell them perform a certain process, which 
they say is necessary to their virtue. It is probably a pro- 
cess of magnetisation, as water is magnetised. The pur- 
chaser is then directed to gaze into the crystal, concentrating 



THE MAGIC MIRROR. 239 

her thoughts, for it is generally females who resort to them, 
on the person she wishes to see. She then sees her lover, 
or any other person in whom she is interested. Now, I be- 
lieve, that by the gazing and concentration of the thoughts, 
aided by the odylic influence of the glass, she may be ren- 
dered more or less lucid, and thus see or dream of the absent 
person. So that the dealers in these crystals are not mere 
impostors, but, as I suppose, trade on a natural truth, im- 
perfectly known to themselves. 

29. The magic mirror is to be explained on the same 
principle as the magic crystal. It was a contrivance, pro- 
bably a very effectual one and depending on portions of know- 
ledge now lost or dormant, for causing the conscious lucid 
state. It would appear that the researches of M. Dupotet 
have led him to the rediscovery, among other portions of 
the magic of the middle ages, of the mode of manufacture 
of these mirrors, which are not, I understand, of glass, 
but of a black substance with a smooth surface, on which 
the visions are well seen. Now I should anticipate that the 
mass of the mirror will prove to be formed of some sub- 
stance, either by nature highly odylic, or at least capable 
of being, by some means, strongly charged with odyle, and 
of retaining the charge. 

The enquirer, in a darkened room, surrounded by all 
those objects which act powerfully on a lively fancy, in 
perfect silence, except for the strains of a solemn music from 
time to time, and steeped in balsamic and narcotic odors, 
is shown the mirror, on which he is told to look earnestly, 
and he will see the absent friend or lover, and how they are 
occupied. He does so, and first, after a time, sees a cloud 
on the mirror, wdiich clears up, and exhibits the image on 
which the thoughts are bent. 

Now, every circumstance favorable to lucidity is here 
present. The enquirer is deeply interested, the accessories 
are all such as promote tranquillity and concentration of 
thought, while they deeply affect the imagination, and thus 
produce, with the aid, no doubt, of the fumigations, and of 
the odylic influence of the mirror, the impressible state open 
to suggestion. The magician, when he judges, perhaps by 
signs w T ell known to him, that this state has been induced, 
directs attention to the mirror, and perhaps artfully sug- 
gests the nature of the vision. Or he commands the visitor, 




240 UNIVERSAL SYMPATHY. 

trembling with excitement, and now under his control as 
to his perceptions, to see the vision. Or, finally, the luci- 
dity produced may be such as to yield a true clairvoyant 
vision. The appearance of the cloud, mentioned in all ac- 
counts of the crystal, of the mirror, and of the Egyptian 
magic, is also a circumstance almost invariably attendant 
on clairvoyant vision, in ordinary magnetism. 

Such are the notions which I would form of the different 
kinds of magic described. I give them only as suggestions, 
and to show that we may at least conceive these things to 
depend on natural causes, and the magic of former days, in 
this point, as it has been shown to be in some others, to be 
Natural Magic. 

30. You will easily perceive, that the preceding attempt 
to give an explanation of the phenomena of Animal Mag- 
netism, and especially of Clairvoyance, while it excludes, in 
regard to lucidity, the theory of sympathy with the operator, 
as applicable to all cases, (for some facts and to some cases it 
undoubtedly does apply,) yet admits and requires another 
kind of Universal Sympathy, existing at all times, at all 
distances, and among all things, the conducting medium and 
essential condition of which is Odyle. I have the less hesi- 
tation in offering my views, as I regard the existence of 
that influence, whatever name be given to it, as established 
by the researches of Reichenbach, beyond all doubt. 

I have endeavored to show a remarkable agreement on 
many points, between the statements of lucid somnambulists 
and those of Reichenbach's sensitives, who are in the ordi- 
nary w^aking state. This agreement is, I think, sufficient 
to justify the attempts I have made to devise what may, by 
courtesy, be called an explanation of these facts. 

But I am sure you will do me the justice to believe, that 
I know the rules of scientific research too well, to attach 
any value to these theoretical considerations. If they shall 
be found justified, as suggestions merely, by the present state 
of our knowledge, and if they shall, in any degree, contri- 
bute to enable any enquirer better to understand and appre- 
ciate the facts, the true explanation of which will not, I 
fear, soon be attained, they will have served the purpose 
for which they were written. My own conviction is, that 
nothing but an infinitely more extended investigation of the 
phenomena of the magnetic sleep than has ever yet been 



LUCID PREVISION. 241 

made, can enable us to make any approach to a true theory 
of these phenomena ; and if I have here ventured, for a 
moment, out of the region of fact, into that of hypothesis, 
it has been solely from the desire to convince others, that 
the pursuit is not a hopeless one ; and to stimulate as many 
well-qualified observers as possible, to add to the score of 
well-observed facts, waiting patiently, till, out of the fulness 
of experience, the true theory shall be developed, as was 
Newton's theory of Gravitation 200 years ago, and as have 
been, in our own day, the undulation theory of light, and 
the atomic theory of chemistry. 

31. You will observe, that I have not attempted to ex- 
plain lucid prevision. It would be mere fancy to say, that 
future events, as I have already hinted in the form of a 
query, "cast their shadows before," in the same way as 
past events leave their traces behind them. Can we imagine 
that which has not yet existed to cast a shadow, or any 
thing else, before it? It is true that we may again resort 
to a very old opinion, namely, that which holds, that present 
events and existences contain within them, to be developed 
in necessary sequence, the germs of all that is future, and 
that the gifted eye can see, in a succession of pictures, all 
the steps or some of the steps of the process, as regards 
the persons or objects in whom the seer is interested. We 
come here on ground, which quakes and gives way beneath 
our feet; and this is the case also, in any attempt to explain 
the phenomena of extasis, or what may be called the spiritual 
chapter of the subject. While I freely admit my inability, 
in either case, to throw any light on the matter, I hold fast 
to the facts, which I regard as too well attested to be 
sneered down, and too interesting to be longer neglected. 
I cannot waver in the conviction, that patient and perse- 
vering research, carried on in the sincere love of truth, 
will, in the end, enable us better to understand even these 
obscure phenomena. 



21 



242 CONCLUDING REMARKS. 



LETTER XIV. 

I have now completed the task which I originally pro- 
posed to myself, when you requested to know my experience 
and my views in regard to Animal Magnetism. I have 
endeavored, all along, to treat the matter as I conceive all 
obscure subjects of research ought to be treated ; that is, I 
have dwelt on and described the facts to be studied, and 
urged, on all men, the duty of enquiring into them before 
pronouncing an opinion. I have only attempted a theory 
or explanation, for the reasons already given, and because 
I find that almost all persons, even those who admit the 
facts, when I converse with them on the subject, unite in 
declaring, that a theory of some kind, even if it be only a 
temporary scaffolding, destined to be swept away before the 
completion of the building, is necessary to enable them to 
reach and grasp the facts. 

It would be ridiculous to deny, that I have written these 
Letters with a view to publication. In fact, I have often 
been urged to publish on the subject, but many causes have 
hitherto prevented me from doing so, and but for your 
request, might still have continued to prevent me. 

It has happened, opportunely, that about the time when 
these Letters were projected, the subject of Animal Mag- 
netism occupied the attention of many of my friends, espe- 
cially since the beginning of the winter 1849-1850 ; and 
more recently, the visits of Mr. Lewis, and of Dr. Darling 
to Edinburgh, have, caused a much larger number of persons 
to feel an interest in the matter. 

Under these circumstances, as I have for many years 
attended to the subject, I have had opportunities of discussing 
it with most of those who, in Edinburgh, have become in- 
terested in it, and I have also corresponded with many in all 
parts of the country. 

The result has been a conviction, that from want of per- 
sonal familiarity with the subject, and perhaps from the 
want of any work, in the English language, in which all 
the branches of the subject are briefly but systematically 
treated, a great amount of misconception prevails, even 



MEN OF SCIENCE. 243 

among such as have seen enough to become satisfied of the 
truth of the facts ; and that, among those who reject, or 
but lately rejected them, a still greater amount of miscon- 
ception, and, consequently, a great deal of prejudice, are to 
be found. 

Acting on this conviction, I have ventured to hope, that 
as having, for so long a time, studied the subject, and also, 
as having some practical knowledge of it, I might be able 
to produce a work, which would teach the enquirer what 
has been observed, what to look for, and how to look for it. 
The recent publication of the researches of Reichenbach, 
and their very favorable reception, have greatly encouraged 
and stimulated me to attempt to produce such a work ; but 
no one can be more sensible of its imperfections than I am. 
It is not with the view of claiming indulgence for these, but 
merely to explain why I have not undertaken, and cannot 
hope to undertake, such an investigation of Animal Mag- 
netism as that subject deserves, that I remind you that 
other, and imperative, duties claim the greater part of my 
time and attention. My most earnest wish, is to see the 
subject taken up by some one fully qualified to do it justice; 
and if these Letters should be so fortunate as to stir up any 
such observer to the laborious task, they will amply repay 
me for the pleasant labor of writing them. 

I rejoice to know, as I have already mentioned, that 
several distinguished men of science have recently become 
convinced of the truth and of the importance of some of the 
facts I have adduced above. There never could be a doubt, 
that this must sooner or later take place ; and now, in re- 
ference to other, and still more remarkable facts, which 
several of these gentleman, not having yet seen them, con- 
tinue to reject, no one who is familiar with the subject can 
for a moment doubt, that these also, in their turn, will be 
admitted. Nay, I venture the prediction, that those who 
have recently seen, and admitted, the beautiful and inte- 
resting facts of suggestion, as exhibited by Mr. Lewis and 
Dr. Darling, and who now perceive that these facts are not 
entirely new, nor contrary to what is known, will, ere long, 
if they examine for themselves, as I have good reason to 
believe they will, not only meet with the magnetic sleep, 
with the irresistible evidence of an external influence capa- 
ble of producing it, with divided consciousness, the power 



244 DUE LIMITS OF 

of silent will, sympathy, clairvoyance, and possibly also 
trance, extasis, and prevision, but will also then discover, 
that they have hitherto clothed these things in an imaginary 
and repulsive dress, from which, and not from the real facts, 
they have recoiled; and that not one of these facts is truly 
new, any more than that of the power of suggestion ; al- 
though the knowledge that we may produce them at plea- 
sure, may, in both cases, be new to them. This I predict 
with confidence, provided these gentlemen study for them- 
selves ; because I have never known any one who did so, 
who did not come to that conclusion, as far as his experience 
went. We cannot insist on any man's going further; and 
I would only venture to recommend to these, and to all 
enquirers, pending their enquiries, to refrain from expressing 
any decided opinion, above all, any opinion unfavorable to 
the character of preceding investigators. 

It must be admitted, moreover, that while every man is 
entitled, if he chooses, to withhold his assent to alleged facts 
of a startling character, until he shall have practically con- 
vinced himself of their truth, there is yet nothing illogical 
or irrational in admitting, nor is it always a proof of weak 
credulity to admit, even startling facts, if properly attested, 
without a personal repetition of the necessary experiments. 

For example, when the power of the vapor of ether to 
produce insensibility to pain, when inhaled, was first an- 
nounced, on the testimony of gentlemen certainly respect- 
able, but altogether unknown to most of us, the fact was at 
once received, and is to this day received, by many persons 
who have neither tried the experiment, nor seen it tried by 
others. In this, I see no proof of absurd credulity, but 
only a proper respect for the testimony of persons unknown 
to us, and whose characters are therefore unimpeached, and 
to be presumed respectable. 

Yet, when a far larger amount of even better evidence, 
inasmuch as the witnesses were often known to us, had been 
produced in favor of the same fact as produced by magnetic 
passes, the fact was scornfully rejected. I maintain that 
it is absolutely impossible to point out any difference be- 
tween the cases, as far as concerns those who tried neither 
mode, which can justify the opposite reception of the two 
truths, for such they are. Nay, at this moment, many still 
deny the magnetic fact, and that, too, without appealing to 
experiment. Even the admirable work of Dr. Esdaile is 



SCIENTIFIC CAUTION. 245 

often tossed aside "with contempt, apparently for no other 
reason than that he, in his researches, having met with 
many other magnetic facts, has also recorded these. Did 
those who now admit, that insensibility to pain may be pro- 
duced by suggestion, admit or not Dr. Esdaile's results be- 
fore seeing Dr. Darling's experiments ? Nay, do they now 
admit them 3 as proving that the same thing may be done 
by passes, &c, without suggestion ? If not, why not ? 
Surely the evidence of several hundred painless operations 
is sufficient. An hundredfold less number, without a trial 
of their own, sufficed to convince millions of the power of 
ether. 

Now I wish to point out, that the treatment which such 
works as the truly admirable one of Dr. Esdaile, distin- 
guished as it is by care, caution, and good logic ; or as that 
of Reichenbach, a model of cautious scientific research into 
a most obscure and difficult subject ; as well as many other 
records of well-observed facts in magnetism, have met with 
from many scientific men, and others, and indeed from some 
of those to whom I have referred as being now satisfied of 
such magnetic facts as they have seen, goes far beyond 
what is dictated by pure scientific caution. Caution would 
have dealt with Morton and Jackson as with Esdaile, had 
such been her dictates. And he who is not convinced by 
Dr. Esdaile's work, of the truth of the facts therein record- 
ed, must labor, I say it with all respect, under some lurking 
prejudice, possibly unknown to himself. Truly, such an one 
would not believe, though one rose from the dead. 

The drift of all this is to urge, on the class of enquirers 
alluded to, the extreme probability that Dr. Esdaile, Reich- 
enbach, and others, whom they have now discovered to be 
right in certain points, in which they agree with other 
writers on Animal Magnetism, will also prove to be right in 
those points on which our enquirers have not yet experi- 
mented. I wish them all success in their search after truth ; 
but I wish also to see them get rid of that peculiar kind 
of incredulity, if it should yet lurk in their minds, which 
led many men, to my certain personal knowledge, without 
a single experiment in either case, to adopt at once the con- 
clusions of Jackson and Morton, and to reject those of Es- 
daile and Reichenbach, because, to use their own words, they 
were " impossible." 

21* 



246 PRACTICAL HINTS. 

I wish to see every respectably alleged fact in Animal 
Magnetism treated as was the discovery of the power of 
ether ; that is, either accepted on the faith of the observer, 
(an every-day occurrence in all other sciences,) or tested by 
a reference to observation and experiment. I shall never 
cease to protest, in the name of truth and science, against 
the system, already too long prevalent, of rejecting such 
alleged facts, and branding the observers with the charge 
of deceit, without a searching investigation, nay, without any 
investigation at all. 

I would conclude by offering some practical considera- 
tions to such as may resolve to investigate Animal Magnet- 
ism for themselves. 

1. The first is, that, next to an ardent and sincere desire 
to ascertain the truth, which is to be presumed of every 
observer, he should be armed with patience and persever- 
ance, without which nothing can be done in these investi- 
gations. He must not allow himself to be deterred by a 
few failures or apparent contradictions, but must remember, 
that it is only through failures and blunders that we can 
hope to attain to a knowledge of phenomena so little under- 
stood, and consequently so liable to the action of unknown 
causes of disturbance. The conviction of the necessity of 
patience must be a living motive, not merely a belief. In 
my own case, I had long believed it, as strongly laid down 
by all the writers on the subject ; but I had failed to act on 
it, and not meeting with marked success in my first inde- 
pendent trials, I rashly concluded that I did not possess the 
necessary magnetic power, and contented myself with taking 
every opportunity of observing the experiments of others, 
whom I held to be more powerful. Afterwards, however, 
observing that many of those who were successful did not 
exhibit externally, any peculiar indications of unusual power 
or vigor, while they all agreed that, with patience, success 
was almost certain, I took courage, tried again, and although 
not at once successful, with patience soon became so. In- 
deed, I am now inclined to believe, that any one, whether 
lady or gentleman, of average health and vigor, possesses 
enough of the magnetic or odylic influence, which indeed is 
generated in the human body by chemical action, to be able 
to magnetise any person of average susceptibility, provided 
patience and perseverance be practised. Nay, I would go 



VARIETY IN THE RESULTS . 247 

further, and say, that I am almost convinced, that every 
one, if the process be continued and repeated for a certain 
time, may be magnetised, especially if the operator be 
powerful. But it is only the more susceptible who can be 
magnetised in a few minutes, or at the first trial. 

I have no reason to suppose that I possess more than 
average magnetic power. Yet, on lately trying, with a 
view to this question, three young men, who had never been 
magnetised at all, I was successful with all three. One of 
them was very slightly affected at the first trial, and at the 
second and third was much more strongly acted on. The 
effect continued, after this, gradually to increase, but at the 
end of eight trials, although many marked effects had ap- 
peared, sleep, that is, full magnetic* sleep, had not been 
attained. I regard it as certain, that in this case, a few 
more operations will produce complete magnetic sleep. In 
the second case, some effect was also produced in the first 
trial, and on the third, deep and sound sleep took place. In 
the third subject, sleep occurred in one of the early trials, 
but for some time was not deep, but easily interrupted by 
speaking to him, and did not become at all deep till about 
the ninth sitting, after which there was no difficulty. 

2. The second remark I would make is, that we are not 
to consider it a failure, if the sleep be not produced at all. 
Many effects, and especially many of the curative effects, 
may be fully brought out independently of the sleep, or of 
divided consciousness. It is even possible, as we have seen, 
to produce clairvoyance in the ordinary conscious state. 

3. The variety in the minuter details of the phenomena 
is so great, that no two cases are exactly alike. This is 
just what might be expected from the fact, that no two 
human beings are exactly alike, either in person or in mind. 
If, then, in any given case, we do not obtain the same re- 
sults as were obtained, perhaps in that case, the seeing of 
which induced us to take up the subject, we are not to ima- 
gine, either that the former case was spurious, or that we 
have failed. Our duty is, to study our own case, as it is 
presented to us by nature, and we shall certainly find, if we 
do so, with variations in many details, a very great agree- 
ment in the leading and essential facts. 

4. Even in the same case, the phenomena vary prodi- 
giously at different times, more especially in degree. The 



248 CONDITIONS OF SUCCESS 

subject who, to-day, is highly lucid or sympathetic, may, 
to-morrow, be dull and irritable, and may fail in every trial. 
In such cases, we should at once desist ; for the patient, if 
urged, only becomes less lucid, and, perhaps, resorts to 
guessing, to satisfy his questioner. If he guess wrong, this 
is set down as a proof that all clairvoyance is imposture. 

5. Our experiments ought to be conducted with entire 
privacy, no one being present but the subject, the operator, 
and one or two assistants or witnesses, if experiments are 
intended, on which conclusions are to be founded. Some ex- 
perimenters, anxious to demonstrate the facts, make of every 
experiment a kind of exhibition, to which all their friends 
are summoned ; but we should always bear in mind, that 
every additional person is possibly an additional cause of 
disturbance to a susceptible subject. When we have, in pri- 
vate, satisfied ourselves of any fact, we may then try to 
satisfy others, but we should take but a few at a time, and 
endeavor to diminish their influence on the subject by keep- 
ing them at a certain distance. 

6. This precaution is more especially required, when we 
wish, as many now do, to repeat Reichenbach's experi- 
ments on the light from magnets, from crystals, or from the 
human body. Indeed, so many precautions are necessary, 
that, unless the experiments be directed by some one who 
has practical experience, failure is far more probable than 
success. 

In order to have the odylic light seen and described to 
us, we must strictly attend to the following conditions, and 
if we neglect any of them, we must not hope to succeed. 
1st. We must have a truly sensitive subject, one, for ex- 
ample, who in the darkness of night has observed light 
from objects or persons. It is not enough that the subject 
be nervous, or hysterical, or subject to spasmodic attacks, 
although these are things usually favorable to sensitiveness. 
He should feel the magnet strongly ; but after all, we must 
try him with the light, before we can pronounce him sensi- 
tive to it. 2d. The darkness must be absolute. In any 
ordinary room, and during the day, this condition is not at- 
tainable ; but with care, it may be secured at night. 3d. 
The subject should remain an hour, an hour-and-a-half, or 
even two hours, uninterruptedly, in this total darkness, that 
the eye may acquire its full sensibility, and the pupil be 



IN ODYLIC EXPERIMENTS. 249 

enlarged to the utmost, before any trial be made. The time 
varies in different cases. 4th. Not a ray, nor even the 
faintest glimmer, of day-light or candle-light, must be ad- 
mitted after the subject enters the dark chamber. All ar- 
rangements must be previously made, and no one must come 
in, or go out, during the whole time. For the light ad- 
mitted by opening the door, &c, is sufficient, even if feeble, 
to dazzle the subject's vision, so as to render him blind to 
odylic light for half-an-hour or longer. 5th. The magnet 
should be powerful. A permanent steel horse-shoe, carry- 
ing 60 or 80 lbs. will suffice for most experiments, and it 
is easy to have an electro-magnet much more powerful. 
Highly sensitive persons will see, in a totally dark room, 
the light even from a pocket horse-shoe magnet, if of great 
intensity, but it is of course a light of small size. 6th. 
No one should hold the magnet in his hand, or on his knee, 
or touch it at all, while the subject looks at it. When the 
light is seen, the close approach of the operator, or of any 
one else, to the magnet extinguishes it, because his odylic 
influence neutralizes that of the magnet, and tends to cause 
a reversal of. its odylic polarity. A straight bar-magnet, 
indeed, if held in the right hand by its northward or nega- 
tive end, or vice versd, will exhibit a larger flame than be- 
fore at the farther end, the two influences being now com- 
bined; but in the case of horse- shoe magnets, they should 
be set upright on a table, and the operator, after disarming 
them, should retire to a distance. 7th. No one should sit 
or stand near or close to the subject ; for if they do, their 
influence destroys the sensitiveness more or less. When 
they retire, the subject often sees the light for the first 
time. 8th. The subject, to see distinctly the odylic flame, 
must be at a certain distance from the magnet ; for, at a 
greater or less distance, the light may be invisible, or only 
seen as a faint general luminousness. Now this distance is 
different in every subject. Some can see at nearly 40 
inches from the magnet, others not till within 2 or 3 inches 
of it ; others again, at intermediate distances, different for 
each. Few see the flame at a greater distance than four 
feet. In each case, the specific distance must be ascer- 
tained, and ever after, strictly attended to. Short-sighted 
persons find their vision, as regards odylic light, improved 
by the glasses they commonly use. This condition of dis- 



250 CAUSES OF FAILURE. 

tance is absolutely essential, so that, even if all other con- 
ditions be fulfilled, the neglect of this one will cause failure. 
9th. The subject should be placed, sitting, with the body 
in the plane of the magnetic meridian, and the back towards 
the north, the feet tending towards the south, the head in 
the opposite direction, looking, however, to the south. 

There is not one of these nine conditions, the neglect of 
which may not cause failure in an ordinary sensitive in the 
conscious state. With highly sensitive subjects, some of 
them exert only a secondary and modifying influence. 
Persons in the magnetic sleep are, as a general rule, so in- 
tensely sensitive to odylic light, that they see it in day- 
light. 

7. Magnetic experiments, or those on clairvoyance, 
should never be tried, for the first time, in the presence of 
a crowd of eager spectators, whose involuntary action on 
the subject confuses him, and who are sure to touch and 
speak to him, each striving to clear up some doubt of his 
own, and never once reflecting how delicate is the suscep- 
tibility of the subject. Failure is the almost unavoidable 
result; and, ignorant of how much of that failure is to be 
attributed to their own proceedings, the spectators, who had 
been rashly summoned to a trial, as if it were an exhibition 
certain to succeed, go away under the impression that the 
alleged facts are not true, whereas, in truth, the trial has 
not been fairly made. When a good case has been found, 
and proves not too susceptible to accidental causes of dis- 
turbance, the facts maybe exhibited, even to a considerable 
number, if kept at a proper distance, and under strict dis- 
cipline, by the operator ; but, as a general rule, two or 
three spectators are as many as can satisfactorily see the 
facts at one time. Such spectators should be near enough 
to see and to watch every turn of the countenance, and to 
hear every inflection of the voice in the subject, for these 
things furnish by far the most convincing evidence of his 
sincerity, and may often enable us to judge whether he sees 
directly or by sympathy. At any considerable distance, 
this is impossible. To avoid the disturbance caused by 
a near approach, the spectator should be placed by the 
operator en rapport with the subject, who will then become 
accustomed to the new influence, and will no longer be 



CKUEL TESTS UNNECESSARY* 251 

confused by it. This, however, can only be done to one at 
a time. 

8. It is sometimes quite distressing to see the measures 
pursued by some sceptical enquirers, in cases where the very 
idea of deceit is not only absurd, but insulting. They will 
inflict severe injuries, twist and pinch the arms, and suspend 
heavy weights to rigid limbs, as if rigidity and insensibility 
to pain implied invulnerability. They will cause the subject 
when excited, by magnetic attraction, or by suggestion, to 
muscular effort, to contend against the whole force of three 
or four men, each stronger than himself; as if, to prove 
muscular effort, it were necessary to strain it beyond the 
subject's powers. They will feel his pulse, two at a time, 
and then be astonished if he faint, or fall into convulsions, 
which, every tyro in Animal Magnetism knows, are often 
the results of interference or cross-magnetism. All these 
things, and a great many more, among which I may men- 
tion, only to protest against them, stuffing concentrated 
ammonia up the nostril, without regard to its subsequent 
action, or applying corrosive acids to the hand, or thrusting 
pins through the skin, are the results, partly of ignorance 
of the subject, partly of want of consideration in regard to 
the mode of testing. It is very easy to ascertain the pre- 
sence of rigidity or of muscular effort, or the absence of 
sensibility to pain, without doing one thing that can have a 
painful or disagreeable effect after the patient is awakened. 
No good or skilful experimenter ever resorts to such cruel- 
ties, because they are to him quite unnecessary, and prove 
no more than can be equally demonstrated without them. 

9. It is hardly necessary to say, that leading questions, 
and all other forms of suggestion, ought to be carefully 
avoided, except in showing the power of suggestion. But, 
obvious as this rule is, many experiments are violated and 
rendered quite valueless, from neglect of it. The somnam- 
bulist should be allowed or induced to tell his own story, 
and no questions should be asked, unless they are indispen- 
sable to understanding what he says, till he has told it 
fully. 

10. The observer should carefully abstain from doing or 
saying anything tending to imply a belief that the subject 
is dishonest. It is hardly possible to convey in words the 
suffering which is often in this way recklessly, and indeed 



252 MAGNETISM A SERIOUS THING. 

unknowingly, inflicted on persons whose sense of truth is as 
pure as their sensibility to reproach is intense. Not only 
have we no right to inflict this suffering, but we shall find, 
if we do, that it sadly mars all our efforts, and often causes 
very simple and easy experiments to fail. Many subjects 
refuse and properly, to answer questions put in this tho- 
roughly unscientific spirit, while they will readily and satis- 
factorily answer the same questions, if put by one who has 
confidence in their truth. One of the most striking facts in 
Animal Magnetism, is the ease with which many subjects 
instantly detect the opposite states of mind referred to, 
even when they are not proclaimed in any way; as well as 
the sympathy and attraction they feel for those who are 
candid, the approach of whom is a source of pleasure and 
of increased power ; and their decided antipathy to the un- 
candid, domineering sceptic, whose mere approach dis- 
tresses them, and diminishes their lucidity. 

11. I would once more repeat, that Animal Magnetism 
is not a play-thing, not a toy, not the amusement for an 
idle hour, not a means of gratifying a morbid craving for 
novelty, or for the marvellous. All such uses of it I abjure, 
and protest against, as abuses. Neither is it a thing to be 
exhibited to gaping crowds for money ; to crowds who stare 
and laugh, and go away, thinking it very strange or very 
funny. It is a serious subject, well worthy of the most 
earnest and devout attention we can give to it. It is painful 
to see it abused to raise a laugh ; and so strongly do I feel 
this, that, for my own share, I object to all exhibitions of it, 
public or private, and only admit an exception, when the 
exhibitor is in earnest, and his object is to convince those 
who feel an equally sincere desire for the truth, of the real- 
ity of the facts investigated. All exhibitions, in which 
mere amusement is the object, tend to degrade science, and 
to retard its progress. 

12. In another sense, Animal Magnetism is no play-thing. 
I mean that rash experiments, by persons ignorant of the 
practical derails of the subject, may probably lead to very 
unpleasant results. I have already discussed this matter 
fully ; and I would only here repeat, that while such disa- 
greeable consequences may arise from ignorant and rash 
meddling, I do not know of any instance of such results in 
the hands of a judicious operator, well acquainted with the 



CAUTIONS TO THE STUDENT. 253 

practice of Magnetism ; unless, indeed, the patient have 
been rashly interfered with by another. No beginner ought 
ever to try such experiments, without the presence of an ex- 
perienced magnetiser ; but I would have every one know 
how to magnetise, as this knowledge may often prove ex- 
tremely useful. Of course, this knowledge ought to be ac- 
quired, not by groping in the dark, but from some expe- 
rienced operator, by seeing his methods, and learning his 
rules. 



If the above practical hints be attended to, every one who 
makes the trial will obtain satisfactory results. I do not 
say that all will see the same phenomena manifested in the 
same forms, for not only do subjects differ ad infinitum, 
but the operators also differ, so that one, perhaps, may never 
see, in his own practice, clairvoyance ; or another may never 
meet with trance, or extasis. But few, if any, will alto- 
gether fail, and above all, most healthy persons will succeed 
in producing the curative effects, and will often be able, by 
means of magnetism, to assuage pain and to dissipate dis- 
ease. 

There can, I think be no doubt, that Animal Magnetism 
will now be studied like any other science, and with the 
same satisfactory results. Let us all do our best to pro- 
mote this consummation, so devoutly to be wished. 

Scientific men and learned bodies have neglected it long 
enough, to be quite secure against the charge of weak cre- 
dulity in now directing their attention to it. Like all new 
truths, it has met with opposition here, and neglect there ; 
but this is not to be wondered at, and hardly to be regret- 
ted. The tendency to oppose and reject new ideas is natural 
to man, although it may be pushed too far, and is designed, 
no doubt, to serve a good end, probably to ensure the tho- 
rough sifting of the new ideas, and the rejection, ultimately, 
of such as are false. 

Those who cultivate Animal Magnetism, therefore, if they 
know any thing of human nature, should be prepared, not 
only to meet with opposition and prejudice, but to make 
allowance for these. There is no occasion for them to get 
angry about it, for anger never promotes the progress of 
22 



254 CONTROVERSY TO BE AVOIDED. 

truths but, on the contrary, by exciting additional prejudice, 
greatly retards it. 

It is true that human nature finds it difficult to remain 
patient and cool, when not only assailed by bad logic, and 
met by abuse instead of argument, but also accused of fraud 
and falsehood, though entirely innocent of such offences. 
But has not this been the fate of discoverers and innovators, 
of the advocates of new truths, in every age ? Do we mend 
the matter by returning abuse for abuse, and by retorting 
on those who accuse us of deceit, with the charge of want 
of candor ? For my part, I think not. I believe the op- 
ponents of new ideas to be sincere, though mistaken ; and 
I do not so much object to their caution and incredulity in 
reference to strange facts, as I am amazed at their bound- 
less credulity in regard to fraud, which, without hesitation, 
and without enquiry, they ascribe to thousands of respecta- 
ble men. 

But I should regard any man's conviction of truth, as 
existing in Animal Magnetism or elsewhere, to fall far short 
of the deep earnest feeling which it ought to be, if it did 
not enable him t6 look calmly down, while his science and 
himself are passing through the fiery ordeal provided for 
all truth, on the errors and prejudices of those who decide, 
as too many do, without enquiry. 

There has been more than enough of angry and personal 
controversy on this subject. Let us try whether we cannot 
now discuss it calmly and rationally, as becomes men of 
science. And let us welcome every enquirer, even were he 
but yesterday an opponent, who is willing to aid in the 
investigation of a subject, at once so interesting, so exten- 
sive, and so obscure. 



PART II. 



FACTS AND CASES; WITH OBSERVATIONS. 



PAET XL 

FACTS AND CASES; WITH OBSERVATIONS. 



LETTER XV. 



I now proceed to give you some details concerning the 
various phenomena which have been considered in the pre 
ceding Letters. These details would have seriously inter- 
rupted the course of the general description, if introduced 
in the midst of it ; and as many of the cases are more than 
once referred to, it seemed best to collect them separately. 
Moreover, many of them are derived from the observations 
of others, and a few have been already published, although 
I have referred to these last only in case of necessity. 

In general, however, the difficulty is not to obtain facts, 
but to select from the number that are accessible. I shall 
endeavor to lay before you only as many as may serve to ex- 
plain and illustrate what has been said ; but there is hardly 
one fact in the whole series, of which, did time and space 
permit, many additional instances might not easily be given. 

I propose to arrange the facts and cases to be adduced, 
in the following order. First : Those which illustrate the 
phenomena observed in the ordinary conscious state; that 
is, in a state, differing from our ordinary waking state, in- 
asmuch as it exhibits a high degree of impressibility ; but 
in which our consciousness is not altered, and is continuous 
with our ordinary consciousness. This section will include, 
of course, the phenomena of suggestion, whether produced 
by the usual magnetic process, or by that of Dr. Darling, 
so far as these are seen in the conscious state. 

Secondly: The phenomena observed in the true magnetic 
sleep, with divided consciousness. This will include the 
production of the sleep ; the effects of suggestion in the 

22* 



258 PHENOMENA OBSERVED 

sleep; the phenomena of sympathy; those of direct clair- 
voyance; those of trance; and those of extasis. 

Thirdly : The foregoing phenomena, as occurring sponta- 
neously. And, 

Fourthly : I shall add a few general remarks on the the- 
rapeutic agency of Animal Magnetism. 



First, then, we shall attend to the phenomena seen while 
the subject is conscious, that is, while he retains his ordinary 
consciousness, and is,, therefore, not only sensible of all that 
passes, and capable of conversing and reasoning about it, 
but able to recollect all his sensations, when no longer in 
the impressible or impressed condition. I need not here 
dwell on the mere sensations perceived in the very first 
stage. These are often slight, and always varied, so that 
hardly any two subjects feel the same. The most common 
sensations are heaviness, drowsiness, tingling, numbness, 
pricking, creeping, and quasi electric or galvanic sensations ; 
a warm or cold aura, or a strong feeling of heat or cold 
without the aura. The eyes, especially when the subject is 
made to gaze fixedly on a point, are also affected. A dark 
veil often seems to come before them, and the object gazed 
at appears dark or black, or becomes multiplied, or vanishes. 
Some of these sensations may be observed in every suscepti- 
ble case ; and where they are strongly marked, we are pretty 
sure of producing the sleep if we persevere. But if we wish 
to study the phenomena of the conscious state, we stop short 
of the sleep and try the effect of suggestion. A case or two 
will illustrate this. 

A. Effects of Suggestion in the Conscious State. 

Case 1. — In a large party at my house, Mr. Lewis acted 
on the company en masse, standing at one end of the room, 
while all present were requested to gaze at him, or at any 
fixed point in the same direction, and to keep themselves in 
as passive a state as possible. Mr. Lewis gazed on the 
company, beginning at one end of the circle of 50 per- 
sons, and slowly carrying his gaze round, with the most 
intense concentration I have ever seen, as expressed in his 
face, attitude, and gesture. In much less than five minuter, 



IN THE CONSCIOUS STATE. 259 

although the necessary silence was but partially observed, 
several persons were distinctly affected. Among these, Mr. 
D., a student of medicine, very soon appeared to be the 
most susceptible. Mr. Lewis, observing this, directed his 
attention more particularly to him, and made a few distant 
passes, gradually approaching Mr. D. The latter bent for- 
ward with fixed insensible eyes and heaving respiration, 
and seemed to be attracted towards the operator. It soon 
appeared, however, that he was so rigid as not to be able to 
move forward, although he evidently tried to do so. Mr. 
Lewis then came near, and, by a pass or two, stopped the 
laborious respirations, and removed the general rigidity, 
when the eyes became natural. Mr. D. was then made 
to close his eyes, and on being told he could not open them, 
he found it impossible to do so. His mouth being closed, 
he was then told he could not open it, nor speak, and this 
also he found impossible. His right arm being raised, Mr. 
Lewis, who had not touched him, told him that he could 
not lower it, which proved to be the case. It very soon 
became hard, rigid, and immovable, and was held out hori- 
zontally for a long time. In fact, a pass or two, over any 
limb, rendered it instantly rigid. Mr. Lewis then desired 
Mr. D. to gaze at him for a second or two, he gazing in 
return; when the eyes at once became fixed, the pupil 
dilated, and utterly insensible, so that no contraction ensued 
when a candle was passed close across the eye, or held close 
before it. The pulse being 76, Mr. Lewis pointed with one 
hand over the heart, while a medical man felt the pulse. 
It rapidly rose to 150, and became so feeble as hardly to be 
felt, while the patient became pale, and would certainly have 
fainted, had this experiment been continued a minute 
longer. Mr. Lewis then caused both the arms and legs of 
the patient successively to move, in spite of all the efforts 
of the patient, according as he, Mr. L., chose to direct them. 
They first moved to a certain extent, and then became rigid, 
and all this without contact. When his hand was laid on 
that of Mr. L., and he was defied to remove it, he found it 
quite impossible to do so. 

Mr. Lewis, having thus shown his control over the mus- 
cles, both voluntary and involuntary, next showed his power 
of controlling sensation. A penknife being placed in Mr. 
D.'s hand, he was told that it would soon become so hot 



260 EFFECTS OF CROSS INFLUENCES. 

that he could not hold it. Within about two minutes he 
began to shift it from one part of the hand to another, and 
soon threw it away as if it had been red hot. The knife 
was again placed in his hand, and he was told that it would 
become so heavy as to force his hand down to the floor. He 
very soon began to make efforts to keep it up, but in about 
three or four minutes, in spite of the most violent resistance, 
which caused him to be bathed in perspiration, and to be out 
of breath, his hand was forced clown to the floor. 

Mr. Lewis next caused Mr. D. to forget his own name, 
and the perplexity of his countenance, while seeking for it 
in vain, was very striking. In this, as in all the other ex- 
periments, the effect was instantaneously dissipated by a 
snap of Mr. L.'s fingers, or by the words "all right/' 

This was the first case in which I saw this peculiar form 
of experiment in the conscious state ; for Mr. D. was through- 
out perfectly conscious, and explained his sensations, except 
when, from cataleptic rigidity of the muscles of speech, he 
could not articulate. Mr. Lewis had never seen him before, 
nor had Mr. D. ever seen any magnetic experiments. In- 
deed he came to my house, utterly sceptical on the subject. 
I should add, that when first acted on, and when his respi- 
ration was so much affected, he felt smart shocks, like those 
of a galvanic battery, in his arms. I had reason afterwards 
to think, that this depended on his being closely surrounded 
by many gentlemen at that time, whose influence, crossing 
that of Mr. Lewis, produced disturbance ; for one evening, 
at the house of Dr. Simpson, when Mr. Lew T is had affected 
him, and had requested two medical gentlemen, one at each 
side, to feel the pulse, the result was, an appearance of great 
suffering, which was not fully removed for at least a quarter 
of an hour. Mr. D. then told us, that he had not v really 
suffered as much as we supposed ; but that he had felt, after 
the two gentlemen felt his pulse, a succession of severe 
shocks, stronger than those of Mr. Kemp's battery in full 
action, which continued to return at intervals. It was im- 
possible to doubt that the crossing of the influences of three 
powerful men, acting on a delicate and highly susceptible 
frame, was the cause of this singular disturbance. When I 
magnetised Mr. D. in private, no unpleasant sensations 
ever occurred. Mr. D. was, at the time, in a very delicate 
state of health, caused, as I afterwards discovered, in great 



CONTROL OF SENSATIONS. 261 

part, by excessive study. He was, in fact, in the first^ stage 
of a severe illness, affecting chiefly the chest, by which he 
was soon after confined to bed for some weeks. There can 
be no doubt that his extreme susceptibility was morbid, for, 
in the interval between the above experiments and his illness, 
I produced the magnetic sleep with the greatest ease, 
whereas, after his recovery, he was, although still capable 
of being magnetised, far less susceptible in every way, and 
exhibited, when magnetised, a train of phenomena quite 
distinct from those I had at first obtained. 

On various other occasions, Mr. Lewis operated on Mr. 
D., and produced the same results, as well as others, includ- 
ing various forms of control over his sensations, perceptions, 
and memory. Those above described, however, sufficiently 
illustrate the conscious phenomena, as they appeared in this 
case. I found, as above mentioned, that Mr. D. was very 
easily thrown into the magnetic sleep, and I shall describe 
the phenomena observed in him in that state in their proper 
place. 

Cases 2 and 3. — Two lads, who were sent with some 
message to Mr. Lewis, one evening when I was with him 
and several other gentlemen, were tried in the same way, 
and found highly susceptible. Both were stout and healthy, 
and about 16 or 17 years of age. They exhibited the whole 
train of phenomena connected with the muscular motions, 
and were rendered by Mr. Lewis's expressed will or sug- 
gestion, quite unable to perform any motion, no matter 
what efforts they made, as for example, to pick up anything, 
or to drop anything, to raise the hand to the head, or to 
take it down when laid on the head. They were so strongly 
attracted by him, in spite of their strongest efforts at first, 
that very soon these efforts of resistance changed into efforts 
to follow him, powerful enough to overcome those of per- 
sons who tried to hold them back, while all the time they 
were urged to resist, and did their utmost to resist, the 
tendency to move towards him. When the point of the 
middle finger of one was laid against the point of the middle 
finger of the other, so as just to touch it, and Mr. Lewis 
made a rapid pass over both, they could not, with their 
utmost exertion, separate the fingers. Nay one, being 
stronger than the other, dragged him across the room by no 
other hold, he resisting with all his might. 



262 SENSATIONS, ETC. CONTROLLED. 

Their sensations and perceptions were entirely under 
control. When they drank water, and were told that it 
was milk, coffee, rum, whisky, or wormwood, they tasted it 
as such. Nay, after drinking it as whisky, they were told 
that they were drunk, and in a minute or two became, in 
every particular, very drunk indeed. The expression of the 
face was perfectly that of intoxication, and they could not 
walk a step without staggering or falling. They were 
easily made, by suggestion, to fancy themselves any other 
persons, and acted in character. They shot, fished, swam, 
lectured, and exhibited every feeling suggested to them. 
They were as easily made to suppose a stick to be a gun, a 
rod, a sword, nay, a serpent ; or a chair to be a tiger or a 
bear. From these animals they fled with extreme terror. 
They were made to see, hear, and feel a dreadful storm, 
and to creep for shelter under a table or a chair, supposed 
by them to be a house. From this, they were soon expelled 
by the serpent, or by the flood rising, when they swam 
lustily for their lives. This was the first time that either 
of them had been tried ; and the control exercised by Mr. 
Lewis over their sensations, perceptions, and emotions was 
perfect, although their consciousness was entire. They 
knew the suggested impressions to be false, but could not 
resist them. It was most interesting to watch closely their 
countenances, when an object, for example, a handkerchief, 
was placed in the hand, and, after they felt quite sure of 
what it was, they were told it was a rat, &c. The gradual 
change to doubt, from doubt to certainty, and from that to 
disgust or anger, was inimitable, and conveyed at once, to 
those near enough to see it, complete conviction of their 
sincerity. 

Case 4. — Mr. F., acted on by Mr. Lewis in the presence 
of ten or twelve persons, of whom I was one, exhibited seve- 
ral of the phenomena. He was sceptical at first, but soon 
found that his perceptions were under control. For example, 
an apple was given to him, and he was then told it was 
an orange. At first he denied this, but by degrees be began 
to feel doubtful. At last he said, "It is certainly very 
yellow," (it was dark brown.) He then took a sly glance 
round the company, each of whom had an apple, but found 
them all yellow too. He next cut out a piece with his finger, 
looked at the inside, smelt and tasted it, and concluded with, 



RIGIDITY AND ATTRACTION. 263 

" Well, it is an orange, but yet I know I took an apple into 
my hand." 

I could give at least twenty similar cases, in which I saw 
Mr. Lewis produce numerous effects of suggestion in the 
conscious state ; but the above are sufficient to illustrate the 
effects, and it would be tedious to give a repetition of the 
same experiments. I shall add, however, one more case, in 
which Mr. Lewis produced, in my presence, very striking 
results. 

Case 5. — Mr. J. H., a young and healthy man, could be 
rendered instantly and completely cataleptic by a glance, 
or a single pass. He could be fixed in any position, how- 
ever inconvenient, and would remain ten or fifteen minutes 
in such a posture, that no man in a natural state could have 
endured it for half a minute. Thus he stood for about ten 
minutes, fixed and rigid, the eyes insensible to light, on one 
foot, the body lying horizontally, the head forward, the 
other foot stretched out behind. He was made to place his 
feet without shoes, the toes pointing in opposite directions 
along the wall, and the feet resting on a narrow foot-board, 
about two inches wide, while his back was placed flat on the 
wall, and the arms stretched out like a cross. In this 
awkward position, he was rigidified and fixed by a pass or 
two, and stuck there at least five minutes. Mr. Lewis then 
demagnetised the upper parts down to the knees, when Mr. 
H. felt in great danger of falling off, but the feet adhered 
so firmly to the foot-board, that I could not move them. 
When the feet were demagnetised, he instantly fell down in 
a heap in our arms. He mas made to go down on all fours, 
and in this position rendered rigid, so that, with all his 
efforts, he could not lie down on the floor. Mr. Lewis fixed 
him in a standing posture, and left the room, accompanied 
by another gentleman. In their absence, I saw Mr. H. 
move his arms up and down, and when they returned, the 
other witness told me that Mr. Lewis had made correspond- 
ing motions, willing the subject to repeat them. This he 
had done, but evidently to a less extent, that is, where Mr. 
L.'s hand moved two or three feet, that of Mr. H. moved 
perhaps only one foot or six inches, but in the same direc- 
tion. At my request, while Mr. H. stood opposite the cloor, 
at ten or twelve feet from it, Mr. Lewis slipped out, while 
the company stood round Mr. H., talking with him, and 



264 WITH AND WITHOUT SUGGESTION. 

tried to attract him to the door and into the lobby, of 
course without a word being said. In half a minute, Mr. H. 
began to look fixedly at the door ; he then made a step or 
two towards it ; but becoming rigid, he bent forward, resting 
on one foot, while his arms were stretched towards the door, 
and the other leg was raised behind him. In this position, 
with an expression of fixed and earnest desire to reach the 
door, he was finally fixed, and rigid from head to foot ; and 
by this time he had got into a position in which, had the 
limbs been flexible, he must have fallen. As it was, when 
the balance became untenable, he made a hop forward, and 
did not fall, although every one thought he must. It was 
evident, that, but for becoming rigid, he would have gone 
straight to where Mr. Lewis was. This same patient was 
made to sleep and to wake by a word, and when asleep, to 
fancy himself Shakspeare or Campbell, &c, and to recite 
long passages with great earnestness and feeling. He was 
also made, by the silent will of Mr. Lewis, while talking to 
others, to move towards Mr. L., and follow him, till stopped 
by the rigidity which never failed to appear. When Mr. 
L. stood on a chair, and tried to draw Mr. H., without con- 
tact, from the ground, he gradually rose on tiptoe, making 
the most violent efforts to rise, till he was fixed by cataleptic 
rigidity. Mr. Lewis said, that had he been still more ele- 
vated above Mr. H., he could have raised him from the floor 
without contact, and held him thus suspended for a short 
time, while some spectator should pass his hand under the 
feet. Although this was not done in my presence, yet the 
attraction upwards was so strong, that I see no reason to 
doubt the statement made to me by Mr. Lewis and by others 
who saw it, that this experiment has been successfully per- 
formed. Whatever be the influence which acts, it would 
seem capable, when very intense, of overpowering gravity. 
But of course I cannot speak with certainty on this point. 
I saw, however, this subject kept by Mr. Lewis' influence 
for some time in a position leaning backwards, in which he 
could not have remained for a second without falling, in his 
usual state, and in which he instantly fell, when Mr. Lewis's 
influence was removed. 

I have given the above cases, as instances of the effects 
which I saw produced by Mr. Lewis on persons in the con- 
scious state. I could easily multiply these instances, but 



DR. darling's experiments. 265 

my space is too limited, and what I have given will suffice 
to illustrate the principle. With all of the subjects except 
Mr. H. the experiments were often repeated on different 
occasions, when Sir David Brewster and many other scien- 
tific gentlemen were present, all of whom were satisfied as 
to the genuineness of the facts, as far as they saw them. 
It will be observed that most of these effects were the re- 
sult of suggestion, acting on persons in a peculiarly impres- 
sible state. But they were not all the effects of suggestion ; 
for the effects produced on the pulse and on the eye, which 
were also shown in many other cases, besides that of Mr. 
D., were produced without any suggestion. Moreover, the 
impressible state itself was produced without direct sugges- 
tion, and in such a way as to prove, in my opinion, the 
existence of an influence proceeding from Mr. Lewis. This 
influence was further shewn in those experiments in which 
he acted on Mr. H., from the lobby, or from another room. 
— I shall now proceed to give some instances of what I saw 
done, in the way of suggestion, on persons in the conscious 
state, by Dr. Darling. I have already described his method 
of producing the impressible state, for which he does not 
employ his own magnetic influence, but causes the subjects 
to gaze at a small coin in the hand. 

Case 6. — Mr. W. an officer, met Mr. Darling at my house. 
Col. Gore Browne had ascertained some weeks before, that 
Mr. W. was susceptible, but had made no further experi- 
ments, and Dr. D. had never before spoken to him. He 
was found, in about two minutes, quite susceptible or im- 
pressible. His muscular motions were controlled in every 
possible way. He was rendered unable to raise his hands, 
or to let them fall ; he was made unable to move one, while 
he could move the other ; unable to sit down or to rise up ; 
or to take hold of, or let go an object. One arm was de- 
prived of sensation, or both arms, or the whole frame. He 
was made to feel a knife burning hot, and the chair on which 
he sat equally so. When he started up, he was made to feel 
the floor so hot that he was compelled to hop about, and 
wished to pull off his boots, which burnt him. He was made 
to feel the room intolerably warm, and actually perspired 
with the heat ; after which he was made to feel it so cold, 
that in a minute or two he buttoned his coat, and walked 
about rubbing his hands. In about five minutes his hand 
23 



266 EFFECTS OF SUGGESTION. 

was really chilled, as I found, like that of a person exposed 
to frost. He was made to forget his own name, as well as 
that of Col. Gore Browne, who was present, and to imagine 
Col. B. a total stranger. He was compelled, for a time, to 
give a false answer to every question asked ; and then was 
forced to give true answers to every question, in spite of 
any effort he might make to do otherwise. He was told he 
was on duty, at drill ; and began to give the word of com- 
mand, as if in the barrack-yard. He was compelled to sing 
and whistle, in spite of himself; to laugh immoderately, and 
then to feel sad, and even to weep, all in spite of his own 
will. He was told that a stick was a gun, and with it, he 
shot and bagged a grouse, which he was made to see before 
him. He was told the piano-forte was a horse, and after 
feeling and closely examining it, he specified its points and 
defects, and appraised its value. He tasted water precisely 
as was suggested to him, as lemonade, tea, or wormwood. 
He was told that Dr. D.'s hand was a mirror, and in it he 
saw himself with a black face, as Dr. D. told him to do. 
He was made to look at his watch, and then convinced that 
it pointed to a different hour from the true one. He was 
then made to believe the watch to be a daguerreotype of Col. 
Browne, and again of a lady. Dr. D.'s empty hand became 
a snuff-box, from which he took a pinch, which made him 
sneeze violently, and this passed into a most severe cough, as 
if he had inhaled snuff, which sensation was not removed for 
about half-an-hour. He was made to go to sleep in one minute, 
and in his sleep to be deaf to the loudest sounds. He was 
made to see, in Dr. D.'s empty hand, a bank note for <£10, 
to read its number, to fold it up, and put it in his pocket. 
And when afterwards asked, he declared he had done so, 
and was surprised not to find it there. He was rendered 
quite unable to jump over a handkerchief laid on the floor; 
and was compelled, according to Dr. D.'s command, and in 
spite of every effort, either to come down on it, or on one 
or other side of it, or straddling across it. In every one of 
these experiments, Mr. W. was quite aware that the sug- 
gested idea was false, but found it impossible to resist the 
impression. About 50 persons were present, including Sir 
David Brewster, and other men of science. On another 
occasion, Mr. W. exhibited many of the same as well as 
other proofs of impressibility, without any preliminary pro- 



DR. darling's experiments. 267 

cess whatever. Dr. D. made him take a gentleman for a 
lamp-post ; his watch for a turnip, the chain for a string ; 
he told him that a gentleman was insulting him, when he 
demanded an apology. He caused him to see the great 
Nassau balloon ascend from the floor of my drawing-room, 
&c. &c. On both occasions, the suggested idea was always 
instantly dissipated by the words " all's right;'' and Mr. 
W.'s countenance then expressed confusion and shame at 
what he had just done or said. 

Case 7. — Mr. B. was discovered by Dr. Darling to be sus- 
ceptible, at the house of a well-known and popular authoress. 
He was so obliging as to meet Dr. D. and a large party at 
my house. There he exhibited many of the effects above 
described, chiefly, however, the control of Dr. D. over his 
movements, sensations, perceptions, and memory. His move- 
ments were controlled in many ways, which it is unnecessary 
to repeat. But what rendered the case peculiarly interest- 
ing, was, that he described his feelings, and reasoned on 
every experiment as it was made, and told us that, in spite 
of perfect consciousness, he found it impossible, by any efforts, 
to resist the suggestions of the operator. He was made to 
forget his own name, or that of any other person ; to be un- 
able to recognise persons whom he knew quite well ; to forget 
and be unable to name a single letter of the alphabet. It 
seemed to him as if he saw the letters in motion, but could 
not lay hold of one of them. These experiments were very 
painful to him, and he informed me, that when thus com- 
pelled to forget his own name, not only was the sensation 
most unpleasant, but he felt ill for a day or two in conse- 
quence. This rarely happens, but there can be no doubt 
that such violent and false impressions may do harm, and 
that such experiments should be made with great reserve 
and caution, or not at all, at least for the mere gratification 
of curiosity. Mr. B. was rendered insensible to pain in one 
arm only, while the other arm and the rest of the body re- 
tained their sensibility. Dr. D. wished to render the arm 
insensible even to touch, but at first, a slight degree of that 
sensibility remained. Even this was removed by a second 
suggestion, and the arm became utterly insensible. The 
hand was well pinched and pricked with pins, but Mr. B. 
was not even aware of this, except when he looked and saw 
it done. He wished, for his own satisfaction, to be cut or 



268 OTHER PERSONS SUCCEED 

burned to the bone. I declined this, however, and contented 
myself with forcing a blunt pin through a thick fold of skin 
on the back of the hand, which is a very painful operation. 
To this he was utterly insensible, and indeed would not be- 
lieve that he had been fairly tried, till, after the insensibility 
was removed, I applied the pin gently, when he quickly with- 
drew his hand, and declared himself satisfied. Mr. B. was 
also made to sleep in one minute, and rendered deaf to the 
loudest noises, till the magic words " all right" awoke him. 

Case 8. — Mr. H. B. was found susceptible, at least in so 
far as concerned the control of his movements by Dr. D. 
The case was remarkable, from the very violent efforts made 
by Mr. H. B. to act in opposition to the suggestions of Dr. 
D. Thus, when he was told he could not rise up from his 
seat, he made the most desperate exertion of all the muscles 
of his body, but could not combine them so as to rise in the 
usual way. Once he projected himself into the air by a 
violent effort against the sofa, but instantly fell down. 
Another time, he again succeeded in forcing himself up by 
a jerk from an ottoman, but fell down on his back on the 
seat. He made such efforts as I have never seen made, but 
always failed to perform the movement which he was told 
he could not make, while any other motion was quite easy. 
I am not certain whether the experiment was tried with Mr. 
H. B., but I think it was, and it certainly was tried with 
the preceding subjects and with several others, of defying 
them to hit Dr. D. a blow on the face with the closed fist. 
In every case, the blow fell to one side or the other, and 
never touched the face. In most of the cases I saw, the 
subjects were also rendered unable to pick up a handker- 
chief from the floor, although they could touch it; and 
when they had it in the hand, they were rendered equally 
unable to drop it. I could adduce ten or a dozen similar 
cases, in which I saw Dr. Darling operate ; but the above 
are sufficient, and I have selected them, without in any in- 
stance detailing all the experiments, which would be tedious, 
as fair examples, all of which occurred in my own drawing- 
room, in the presence of large parties, including many sci- 
entific and medical gentlemen, all of whom were perfectly 
satisfied of the facts. 

In these experiments of Dr. Darling, as I have formerly 
explained, the impressible state was not produced by his 



IN THESE EXPERIMENTS. 269 

magnetic influence, but by the subjects gazing at a small 
coin, placed in the left hand. If Dr. D.'s influence was at 
all exerted, it was to a very limited extent, as he occasion- 
ally made the subject gaze for a moment at him, while he 
gazed in return, perhaps holding one hand, or laying his 
finger on the middle of the lower part of the subject's fore- 
head. 

It is also to be observed that many persons have found it 
quite easy to produce the same effects, in susceptible cases. 
The Earl of Eglinton and Col. Gore Browne have been 
quite as successful as Dr. Darling, and I know of many 
others who have also succeeded. I have myself found no 
difficulty, by his method, in producing similar results, but 
have merely satisfied myself that it could be done, without 
pushing the experiments very far. 

These experiments demonstrate only the power of sugges- 
tion on persons in the impressible state, which state, as we 
have seen, may be produced, either in the method of Dr. 
Darling, or in that of Mr. Lewis, in which it is done by the 
direct influence of the operator. This also I have tried 
with success ; but I find that, as a general rule, Dr. Dar- 
ling's method is the easier of the two. We must bear in 
mind, however, that the other method enables us, not only 
to obtain the phenomena of suggestion in the conscious im- 
pressible state, but also, if carried further, the magnetic 
sleep, with its peculiar phenomena and its divided conscious- 
ness. 

It is self-evident, that the power of suggestion, thus ac- 
quired, over persons in the conscious state, may be usefully 
applied in medicine. Thus, Dr. Simpson? who has made 
many experiments with success, has been enabled to cause 
patients, by a command given in that state, to sleep for a 
certain number of hours at a subsequent period, in cases 
where sleeplessness had long prevailed. I am informed by 
the Earl of Eglinton, that he was enabled, while travelling 
by railway with a party, one of whom, a lady, was very 
deaf, to restore her hearing to such an extent, that she 
heard whispers inaudible to him. This proved at once that 
the deafness was not hopeless, and it was found, that the 
improvement lasted for some hours after that single trial. 
It is probable that a course of such treatment might perma- 

23* 



270 CONSCIOUS LUCIDITY. 

nently restore the hearing, and at all events it is worth 
-while to make the attempt. 

B. Clairvoyance in the Conscious State, by Passes, 
or by Simple Concentration. 

It is generally supposed that clairvoyance belongs only 
to the higher stages of the magnetic sleep ; but it now ap- 
pears, that it may, in certain cases, be produced without 
the sleep, and when the subject is in a state of ordinary 
consciousness. Indeed, if w T e are to regard clairvoyance, 
as I am disposed to do, as simply the power of noticing or 
observing certain very fine or subtle impressions, conveyed 
from all objects to the sensorium, by the medium of a very 
subtle agent, influence, fluid, or imponderable, which we 
may call Vital Magnetism, or, with Reichenbach, Odyle, 
the impressions caused by which are usually overpowered 
by the coarser impressions conveyed to the sensorium 
through the external organs of the senses, it is evident, that 
the essential condition of clairvoyance is not the sleep, but 
the shutting out of the impressions of the senses. This 
occurs, no doubt, in the sleep, but it also occurs in the state 
of reverie and abstraction, and may, in some cases, be 
effected at pleasure by voluntary concentration. I have 
not myself had many opportunities of seeing this pheno- 
menon, but as it is extremely interesting, I shall give a 
brief account of the experiments of Major Buckley, which 
appear to have been made in a manner perfectly satisfactory, 
and on a large number of persons. It would certainly ap- 
pear that Major, B. has a rare and very remarkable power 
of producing conscious clairvoyance in his subjects. 

Before describing Major Buckley's method, I should men- 
tion that he had been for some time in the habit of pro- 
ducing magnetic sleep and clairvoyance in the sleep, before 
he discovered that, in his subjects, the sleep might often 
be dispensed with. The following details are abridged from 
letters with which Major B. has very kindly favored me. 

Major Buckley first ascertains whether his subjects are 
susceptible, by making with his hands, passes above and 
below their hands, from the wrist downwards. If certain 
sensations, such as tingling, numbness, &c. are strongly 
felt, he knows that he will be able to produce the magnetic 



MAJOR BUCKLEY'S METHOD. 271 

sleep. But to ascertain whether he can obtain conscious 
clairvoyance, he makes slow passes from his own forehead 
to his own chest. If this produce a blue light in his face, 
strongly visible, the subject will probably acquire conscious 
clairvoyance. If not, or if the light be pale, the subject 
must first be rendered clairvoyant in the sleep. Taking 
those subjects who see a very deep blue light, he continues 
to make passes over his own face, and also over the object, 
a box, or a nut, for example, in which written or printed 
words are enclosed, which the clairvoyant is to read. Some 
subjects require only a pass or two to be made, others re- 
quire many. They describe the blue light as rendering the 
box or nut transparent, so that they can read what is inside. 
(This reminds us of the curious fact mentioned by Reichen- 
bach, that bars of iron or steel, seen by conscious sensitives, 
without any passes, shining in the dark with the odylic 
glow, appeared to them transparent like glass.) If too 
many passes be made by Major B., the blue light becomes 
so deep that they cannot read, and some reverse passes 
must be made, to render the light less deep. Major Buck- 
ley has thus produced conscious clairvoyance in 89 persons, 
of whom 44 have been able to read mottoes contained in 
nut-shells, purchased by other parties for the experiment. 
The longest motto thus read, contained 98 words. Many 
subjects will read motto after motto without one mistake. 
In this way, the mottoes contained in 4860 nut-shells have 
been read, some of them, indeed, by persons in the mes- 
meric sleep, but most of them by persons in the conscious 
state, many of whom have never been put to sleep. In 
boxes, upwards of 86,000 words have been read; 'in one 
paper, 371 words. Including those who have read words 
contained in boxes when in the sleep, 148 persons have thus 
read. It is to be observed that, in a few cases, the words 
may have been read by thought-reading, as the persons who 
put them in the boxes were present; but in most cases, no 
one who knew the words has been present, and they must 
therefore have been read by direct clairvoyance. Every 
j)recaution has been taken. The nuts, inclosing mottoes, 
for example, have been purchased of 40 different confec- 
tioners, and have been sealed up until read. It may be 
added, that of the 44 persons who have read mottoes in 
nuts by waking or conscious clairvoyance, 42 belong to the 



272 MAJOR BUCKLEY'S EXPERIMENTS 

higher class of society; and the experiments have been 
made in the presence of many other persons. These ex- 
periments appear to me admirably contrived, and I can per- 
ceive no reason whatever to doubt the entire accuracy of 
the facts. It would of course be tedious to enumerate so 
many experiments, all of the same kind; but I shall select 
one or two of the most striking as examples. 

Case 9. — Sir T. Wiltshire took home with him a nest of 
boxes belonging to Major Buckley, and placed in the inner 
box a slip of paper, on which he had written a word. Some 
days later he brought back the boxes, sealed up in paper, 
and asked one of Major Buckley's clairvoyantes to read the 
word. Major B. made passes over the boxes, when she said 
she saw the word "Concert." Sir T. Wiltshire declared 
that she was right as to the first and last letters, but that 
the word was different. She persisted, when he told her 
that the word was "Correct." But on opening the boxes, 
the word proved to be "Concert." This case is very re- 
markable ; for, had the clairvoyante read the word by 
thought-reading, she would have read it according to the 
belief of Sir T. Wiltshire, who had either intended to write 
"correct,' 5 or in the interval, forgot that he had written 
"concert," but certainly believed the former to be the word. 

Case 10. — A lady, one of Major Buckley's waking clair- 
voyantes, read 103 mottoes, contained in nuts, in one day, 
without a pass being made on that occasion. In this, and 
in many other cases, the power of reading in nuts, boxes, 
and envelopes, remained, when once induced, for about a 
month, and then disappeared. The same lady, after three 
months, could no longer read without passes ; and it took 
five trials fully to restore the power. This may be done, 
however, immediately, by inducing the mesmeric sleep and 
clairvoyance in that state, when the subjects, in the hands 
of Major Buckley, soon acquire the power of waking clair- 
voyance. 

Case 11. — The words, "Can you see inside?" were writ- 
ten on a narrow slip of paper, which was then laid on a 
quarter sheet, and folded over 11 times. The folded paper 
was placed in a thick envelope, and sealed with three seals, 
in such a way that it could not be opened undetected. It 
was then sent to a clairvoyante, who returned it with the 
seals uninjured, having read the contents in waking clairvoy- 



IN CONSCIOUB CLAIRVOYANCE. 273 

ance. Mr. Chandler has published an account of a precisely 
similar experiment, in which the sealed envelope, after the 
contents had thus been read, was shown to many peYsons, 
all of whom were quite satisfied that it could not have been 
opened. I have in my possession one of the envelopes thus 
read, which has since been opened, and I am convinced 
that the precautions taken, precluded any other than lucid 
vision. 

I regard the experiments of Major Buckley as not only 
well devised, but of very great value, as proving the exist- 
ence of waking or conscious clairvoyance, w T hich, as I have 
mentioned in Part I., undoubtedly occurs as a spontaneous 
natural fact. Indeed, it is to the occurrence of this state 
that we must refer many well-attested instances of persons 
acquiring intuitively a knowledge of distant events, many of 
which are recorded. 

The case of the lady, mentioned in Part I., is far from 
being the only case in modern times, of spontaneous and 
waking clairvoyance. Mr. Atkinson, to whom I owe that 
case, in the work recently published by himself and Miss 
Martineau, gives an instance of its occurrence in his own 
person. I have also mentioned, in Part I., that Mr. Lewis, 
by concentrating his thoughts, can produce, in himself, the 
state of waking clairvoyance, and has frequently thus seen 
persons, myself among the number, at the time quite un- 
known to him. I shall here give an instance of Mr. Lewis's 
power in this way, on the testimony of the gentleman who 
made the experiment, who is well known to me, and on 
whose accuracy the utmost reliance may be placed. 

Case 12. — Mr. B., the gentleman alluded to, arranged with 
another gentleman, that, at a certain hour, the latter should 
be present in the drawing-room of his aunt, Miss C, with 
that lady and another, these three being all the inhabitants 
of the house, except servants. At the same hour, Mr. B., 
in his own house, at a distance of 14 miles, requested Mr. 
Lewis, who had never seen Miss C. nor any of her family, 
nor her house, to try to magnetise that lady. Mr. Lewis 
proceeded to concentrate his thoughts on the subject, and 
soon saw and described the house, its situation, the house- 
dog, the drawing-room, and the persons in it, all quite accu- 
rately. But he saw in the room not only the three inhabit- 
ants of the house, but two other persons. While this was 



274 CONSCIOUS LUCIDITY. 

going on, two visitors had previously come into the room in 
Miss C.'s house, and Miss C, who was susceptible to mag- 
netism, just at the time when Mr. Lewis saw her, described 
her, and endeavored to magnetise her, was so strongly af- 
fected, that she declared her nephew must be magnetising 
her, and begged him not to do so. 

I mention this case, as a proof of the power possessed by 
Mr. Lewis in a certain state of concentration, not only of 
seeing, but of acting on persons whom he has never seen. I 
have already, in Part I., described a case in which he acted 
on a lady in my house, whom, however, he had before seen, 
from a distance of 500 or 600 yards. In that case also, he 
saw the lady when acting on her from a distance, and sub- 
sequently pointed out accurately where she sat, and the di- 
rection in which he saw her move away from the piano-forte, 
when compelled to leave it and to lie down. 

On the whole, it must, I think, be admitted, and the expe- 
riments of Major Buckley are alone sufficient to decide this 
point, that conscious or waking clairvoyance may be pro- 
duced artificially ; and this being the case, it is in the highest 
degree probable that it may also occur spontaneously, even 
if its spontaneous occurrence had never been observed. I 
consider it highly probable, that many dreams, concerning 
events passing at the time, or just before, which prove cor- 
rect, depend on the spontaneous occurrence of this state 
during sleep or reverie. It can hardly be doubted, that if 
the subject be duly investigated, very interesting results 
must be obtained. But we must not expect to find that all, 
or many, magnetisers possess the power of inducing conscious 
clairvoyance in the same way, or in the same degree, as 
Major Buckley. On the contrary, that gentleman appears 
to have a very peculiar influence on his subjects. Yet it is 
not probable that he is the only person possessed of this 
power. 

There is another method of producing conscious clairvoy- 
ance, or, at least, phenomena which appear to me to be the 
same ; namely, gazing at what is called the Magic Crystal, 
or at the Magic Mirror, or other objects. It will be observed, 
that as the magnetic sleep may be caused either by passes 
or by the patient gazing at an object, so it is quite conceiv- 
able that gazing at an object, as well as passes by the ope- 
rator, may produce conscious or waking clairvoyance. I 



THE MAGIC CRYSTAL, 275 

shall now, therefore, adduce a few facts connected with the 
production of 

C. Conscious Clairvoyance by gazing at an object. 

Many persons, especially the young, who are more suscep- 
tible, when they are made to gaze steadily at an object, pass, 
without going into sleep, into a state, in which they see per- 
sons or things not present. 

1. The Magic Crystal.— This is generally a round or 
oval-shaped piece of clear glass. Several exist, and one is 
now in my hands, which were made long ago, and used for 
the purpose of divination, as in the case of the crystal of 
Dr. Dee. It is said that Dr. Dee's crystal is still extant, 
and, according to some, it was a polished mass of jet; but 
it does not appear that the nature of the substance is 
of much importance, or rather, it would appear that Dr. 
Dee had a globe of glass or of rock crystal, and also a 
magic mirror, probably the piece of jet alluded to. The 
essential point is that persons who gaze earnestly on the 
crystal, often see the figures of absent persons, nay, as in 
ordinary clairvoyance, of such as are unknown to them. 
The crystal of which I sp^ak, is of the size and shape of a 
large turkey's egg, and was sold some years since, by a 
dealer in curiosities, as an old magic crystal, with a paper 
containing certain mystical and magical rules for its use. 
In the few experiments I shall mention, it was used by 
simply desiring the person to gaze earnestly at it. 

Case 13. — A boy, quite ignorant of what was expected, 
after gazing at the crystal for about half an hour very 
steadily, saw a dark cloud appear in it, which soon cleared 
up, and he then saw his mother in her room. By and bye, 
his father appeared. I then asked him to look for a lady, 
whom he saw walking in the street in which she lived, and 
accurately described her walking dress, which he had never 
seen, although he may have seen the lady for a moment in 
the evening. I then asked for a boy and a servant whom I 
was sure he had never seen. He saw and described most 
accurately the persons and dress of both. I asked for 
another servant, whom he saw opening the street-door to 
admit the lady. I marked the time, and found that this 



276 THE MAGIC CRYSTAL 

lady had been walking in the dress described, and had 
entered her house at the time when the boy had seen her. 

In all this, I could see nothing but conscious or waking 
clairvoyance, produced by long gazing. I conclude, that 
the figures appeared in the crystal, because the boy was 
looking there, and I see no reason to doubt, that by intense 
gazing on some other objects, he might have been made to 
see the same. I made several similar experiments, both 
with that crystal, and with others, two of which I knew to 
have been recently made, one several years ago, the other 
only a week or two previously. The experiments were also 
made with two other boys, and the general result was, that 
when they gazed long and steadily, they generally saw 
figures of some sort, sometimes of a father, mother, or 
brother, but sometimes also of persons quite unknown to 
them, without such persons being asked for, and of course, 
in such cases, I could not tell who the persons seen were. 
But when, as often happened, their attention wandered, 
they saw nothing. I could not observe, in any one of these 
boys, the slightest tendency to deceive me. On the con- 
trary, I was surprised as well as pleased at the patience 
with which they submitted to these tedious experiments, 
and at their reserve in declaring "that they saw anything. 
It often happened, that they saw nothing during the whole 
time ; but when they did see anything, they were very pre- 
cise in stating how much or how little they saw. I gene- 
rally asked no questions, but encouraged them to tell their 
own story. 

The impression made on my mind by these trials was, that 
the gazing produced an impressible state, (as I ascertained 
several times by trying some of Dr. Darling's experiments 
on them,) and that when they gazed very steadily, conscious 
clairvoyance was developed, to a greater or less extent. I 
resolved to investigate the matter more fully, but as the 
means of doing so have only very recently been in my 
possession, I must wait until I shall have time to pursue the 
investigation. In the meantime, I consider it as certain, not 
from these experiments alone, but from many others of which 
I have been informed on good authority, that conscious 
clairvoyance may be thus produced. I shall here mention 
some other instances of visions seen in crystals. 

Case 14.— A globular mass of crystal, rather larger than 



PRODUCES CONSCIOUS LUCIDITY. 277 

an orange, was lying on a table, when a little girl entered 
the room, and accidentally looked at it. She exclaimed, 
" There is a ship in it, with its cloths (sails) all in rags. 
Now it tumbles down, and a woman is looking at it, and leans 
her head on her hand." Her mother afterwards came into 
the room, and without having heard what the child had seen, 
immediately saw the ship and the woman. This accidental 
observation was communicated to Earl Stanhope by the per- 
son in whose room it happened, and by his Lordship to me. 

Earl Stanhope informs me that he has made experiments 
with three crystals, in one or other of which visions have been 
seen by fifteen children of both sexes and of different ages, 
and by seven adult females, one of them upwards of sixty 
years of age. In regard to these visions, his Lordship ob- 
serves that " In many cases it is very remarkable, that they 
could not have been presented by memory to the imagina- 
tion ; as, for instance, visions of a dog wearing a crown ; of 
a bed with a black counterpane ; of a house with 126 win- 
dows and 33 doors, &c. &c." All this corresponds with the 
strange visions of ordinary clairvoyance. 

" The objects seen in succession were often, as in dreams, 
unconnected with each other, and while they were exhibited, 
no other objects in the room were visible to the seers." 
This proves that the power of seeing them was, as in ordinary 
clairvoyance, connected with abstraction or reverie, the re- 
sult of long and concentrated gazing. Earl Stanhope adds, 
that very often those who had previously seen visions saw 
nothing, and that none of the persons he tried showed any 
disposition to deceive. This agrees perfectly with my own 
experience, in the few trials I have made. 

Case 15. — We have seen that Mr. Lewis possesses, at 
times, the power of conscious clairvoyance, by simple con- 
centration of thought. He finds that gazing into a crystal 
produces the state of waking clairvoyance in him much 
sooner and more easily. On one occasion, being in a house 
in Edinburgh with a party, he looked into a crystal, and 
saw in it the inhabitants of another house, at a considerable 
distance. Along with them, he saw two gentlemen, entire 
strangers to him. These he described to the company. 
He then proceeded to the other house, and there found the 
two gentlemen whom he had described. 

Case 16. — On another occasion, he was asked to see a 
24 



278 THE MAGIC MIRROR. 

house and family, quite unknown to him, in Sloane Street, 
Chelsea, he being in a house in Edinburgh with a party. 
He saw in the crystal, the family in London, described the 
house, and also an old gentleman very ill or dying, and 
wearing a peculiar cap. All was found to be correct, and 
the cap was one which had lately been sent to the old gen- 
tleman. On the same occasion, Mr. Lewis told a gentleman 
present, that he had lost or mislaid a key, of a very par- 
ticular shape, which he, Mr. L., saw in the crystal. This 
was confirmed by the gentleman, a total stranger to Mr. 
Lewis. 

Mr. Lewis is distinctly of opinion, that the crystal is only 
a means of producing conscious clairvoyance by gazing at 
it; and from what I have seen, such is my own opinion. 
But it is quite possible, that, besides the gazing, the mag- 
netic or odylic influence of the crystal, or rather glass, may 
assist in producing the effect. Mr. Lewis has frequently 
been so kind as to look into crystals for me, and although 
this has chiefly been done in reference to persons and things 
at a distance, and in cases in which what he saw cannot yet 
be verified, I am convinced that he saw what he described 
to me. Whether the things he saw, in these cases, were 
only dreams, or whether his visions w T ere of actual facts, is 
another point, which, after a time, I may be enabled to 
ascertain. But I may here state, that a very large crystal 
globe, belonging to myself, had, in a short time, so strong 
an effect on him, as nearly to throw him into magnetic 
sleep, while a much smaller one had no such effect. This 
seems to indicate that the odylic influence of the crystal 
may assist in producing the effect. 

2. The magic mirror. Of this, I have no experience ; 
but I conceive its action to be the same as that of the crys- 
tal. The mirror may be of jet, as Dr. Dee's is said to have 
been, or of metal, or even a simple black surface, blackened 
by charcoal. It is at all events an object which must be 
gazed at for same time, before visions appear. Now we 
know, that both metals and charcoal act strongly on sus- 
ceptible persons. M. Dupotet has found, that many per- 
sons, on gazing for a while at a surface of charcoal, see 
visions of a most exciting kind, the nature of which they are 
generally most unwilling to disclose. But sometimes they 
do mention what they see. In one case, a lady saw a ship 



MAGNETISED WATER. 279 

in a storm, and described it, in the presence of my informant, 
who is a lady of very high rank, and of the highest character. 
When these experiments of M. Dupotet with his mirrors are 
long continued, the subjects not only become much excited 
by what they see, but are frequently rendered quite uncon- 
scious of what is passing around them. The experiments 
are indeed very remarkable, but must be tried with great 
caution, in consequence of the violent effects produced. I 
am disposed to agree with M. Dupotet, in thinking that he 
has, in this discovery of the powers of the mirror, redis- 
covered a part of the magic of the middle ages, which, like 
all magic, is founded on natural facts. The whole subject 
requires a thorough investigation. 

3. Water. It is found that susceptible persons may be 
made to see visions, by gazing into a glass of water, espe- 
cially if the water be magnetised, in which case we know 
that it acts on the susceptible. 

Case 17. — Major Buckley caused a lady to look into a 
bottle of magnetised water, who had been found to be ren- 
dered consciously clairvoyante by looking into a crystal. She 
saw an alligator in the water. 

Case 18. — A lady of rank caused a clairvoyante to look 
into a bottle of magnetised water, when she let the bottle 
fall from fright, declaring that she saw a serpent in it. 

All the facts above mentioned tend to prove, that con- 
scious clairvoyance, or visions, or dreams, may be produced 
by gazing at a variety of objects, and probably most easily 
by gazing at crystals, metallic or carbonaceous surfaces, and 
magnetised water. But it will probably be found, on trial, 
that many other substances will produce a similar effect. 

Many persons, on reading the accounts that have been 
published of the visions seen in crystals, &c. are disposed to 
reject the whole as sheer imposture. But it appears to me, 
that we cannot thus get rid of the subject. It is quite con- 
ceivable that some seers may have endeavored to deceive ; 
but it is not conceivable that all should have done so. If 
some of the statements which have appeared seem very ab- 
surd, it must be remembered, that the subject has not yet 
been scientifically investigated, and that while most of the 
seers are children, often very young and ignorant, the opera- 
tors have also frequently been unaccustomed to experiment, 
and may have vitiated true phenomena by suggesting their 



280 EGYPTIAN MAGIC. 

own ideas. It appears certain, that many children and 
adults in different places have seen visions in crystals ; many 
of them have been not only trustworthy, but have been 
much alarmed and agitated by what they saw ; the visions 
have very often been exactly such as are seen in ordinary 
clairvoyance ; and on the whole, it appears that there are 
very interesting facts, whatever be their true nature, which 
require and deserve the most careful investigation. 

I have not alluded to those still more wonderful visions 
said to have been seen in crystals, &c. of persons long dead, 
of good and evil spirits, and of answers to questions ex- 
hibited in written or printed characters. I have had, as yet, 
no opportunity of investigating these matters, and I can 
easily see many sources of fallacy. But even here, I do not 
feel myself entitled to reject, summarily, and without inves- 
tigation, all that has been asserted. Believing, as I do, that 
the state of clairvoyance may be induced by gazing at crys- 
tals, &c, I think it quite possible that higher states, such as 
that of extasis, may also be so produced. Now, as clair- 
voyance and extasis are states as yet hardly studied, and 
certainly not fully investigated, I cannot affirm the impossi- 
bility of things far more strange than any I have yet seen. 
But I dare not venture to bring forward such things as facts, 
until I shall have been enabled to investigate them, which 
I hope to be able to do. 

In concluding what I have to say on the subject of con- 
scious clairvoyance, as produced by gazing, it is unnecessary 
to do more than to advert to the method employed by the 
Arabian sorcerers in Egypt at the present day, as that has 
been fully detailed by Miss Martineau, and other authors, 
who have seen it. Every one knows, that a boy is made to 
gaze on a large drop of ink (a liquid mirror) in his hand, 
while fumigations and magnetic manipulations are employed. 
There appears to be no good reason to doubt that, in this 
way, which is merely a variation of the crystal, boys have 
seen and accurately described absent persons quite unknow T n 
to them. In many cases, I conceive thought-reading to have 
been the medium, as when Shakspeare was seen, as he is 
generally represented. But I have already, in Part L, 
shown that thought-reading, or the highest degree of sym- 
pathy, is, in truth, not less wonderful than direct clairvoy- 



THE MAGNETIC SLEEP. 281 

ance. Both sympathy and direct clairvoyance occur in the 
magnetic sleep, and both may also occur, as clairvoyance 
does, in the conscious state, under favorable circumstances. 



LETTER XVI. 

I now proceed, secondly, to give some illustrations of the 
magnetic sleep and its phenomena. 

A. Production of the Sleep. 

The method which I have generally employed consists in 
sitting opposite and close to the subject, a little higher than 
he is, pressing gently his thumbs with mine, and gazing 
steadily in his eyes, or in one of his eyes. As soon as some 
effect is produced, which may be, when it happens, in a few 
minutes, or after a quarter of an hour, or half an hour, I 
make passes with both hands downwards over the forehead 
and face to the chest. Sometimes I begin with passes, and 
frequently I alternate gazing and passes. 

Case 19. — Mr. D., a student of medicine, nineteen years 
of age, in delicate health, had been found by Mr. Lewis 
very susceptible in the conscious state, as already described, 
Case 1. I wished to try whether, as he was susceptible, I 
could produce in him the magnetic sleep. In the first trial, 
after 25 or 30 minutes of gazing, as above described, alter- 
nated with passes, he slept, but not deeply, and was easily 
roused when spoken to. I persevered with similar results, 
for nine successive trials, during which the sleep was gra- 
dually produced in a shorter time, and on the eighth trial, 
in 15 minutes. Finding that he was still disturbed by noises 
in the street, I silently willed that he should not hear them, 
and thus succeeded in producing a deeper sleep, so that in 
the ninth trial he slept in twelve minutes, and was, for the 
first time, perfectly unconscious, on waking, of what passed 
during his sleep. He spoke now, which he had not done 
before, in a voice quite different from his usual voice, and, 
in answer to questions, said he would sleep deeper every 

24* 



282 PRODUCTION OF THE SLEEP 

time, and would be able to see ; but at present a thick mist 
prevented him from doing so. I desired him to sleep 
exactly half an hour, which he promised to do, and when 
the time came, which happened to be five P. M., he woke 
suddenly while the clocks were striking. I commanded 
him, before he woke, to sleep next day in five minutes, 
which he promised to do, and did. From this time I found 
it quite easy to produce the sleep, and by the thirteenth 
trial I had got him to sleep in one minute. In this case 
the full, true, magnetic sleep was not obtained till the ninth 
day, after which it was easily produced, and gradually be- 
came deeper, presenting many interesting phenomena, to be 
mentioned in their proper place. 

Case 20. — Mr. T., a student of chemistry, aged 21. 
Having found that this gentleman, who enjoys perfect 
health, was easily rendered impressible, in the conscious 
state, by about seven minutes gazing at a coin in his hand, 
as in Dr. Darling's process, I tried next day to produce the 
sleep in him, and in this first trial, by alternate gazing and 
passes, succeeded in putting him to sleep in about twenty 
minutes. The sleep was not very profound. I proceeded 
with him as with Mr. D., and soon reduced the time neces- 
sary to cause sleep from twenty minutes to two minutes. 
In this case also I was able to fix the length of the sleep. 
He was quite unconscious, after waking, of all that passed 
during the sleep, but I found that, by telling him to remem- 
ber anything, I could cause him to do so. 

Case 21. — Mr. H. W., a German, blind, having lost his 
sight from a complication of diseases. The left eye is en- 
tirely destroyed, having been operated on unsuccessfully 
for cataract. The right eye is said to be affected with 
opacity in the posterior part of the capsule, and also with 
amaurosis. During the last two years, he has only been 
able to distinguish, very feebly, between day-light and 
darkness, and he is to all practical purposes stone-blind. 
On looking at the eye, it appeared to me that the opacity 
in the capsule, which had been expected to form into cata- 
ract, had not yet proceeded to any great extent ; and as 
the iris was to a certain extent moveable, although gene- 
rally much dilated, I had some hopes that the retina might 
not be quite insensible to light. Not being familiar with 
diseases of the eye, and not thinking at the time of trying 



IN A BLIND SUBJECT. 283 

to restore the sight, the state of the eye was not particu- 
larly examined till nearly two months after I first magnetised 
Mr. W. At that period, as I shall afterwards mention, a 
considerable improvement had taken place, and Sir D. Brew- 
ster, who kindly examined the eye, thought he saw some 
degree of separation of the layers of the lens, caused by 
deficient moisture. By that time, the iris contracted very 
decidedly when the eye was suddenly exposed to strong 
day-light, after having been shaded by the hand. My chief 
reason for trying to magnetise Mr. W. was, that I thought 
I might improve thereby his general health, which was de- 
licate ; and as he was most anxious to make the trial, I 
also felt very desirous to ascertain the effects that might be 
produced on a blind patient. 

I operated on him exactly as on the two gentlemen above 
mentioned, and soon produced decided effects and strong 
sensations, without, however, at first causing sleep. It was 
not till the twelfth sitting, that I succeeded in inducing the 
true magnetic sleep, after which I found it quite easy to do 
so ; and in this also, the time required was soon reduced to 
two or three minutes. I beg here particularly to point out, 
that as far as I could see, the blindness of Mr. W. was no 
obstacle to his being affected. On the contrary, the sensa- 
tions produced were from the first much stronger than in 
the other cases, and indeed it was a very peculiar and strong 
quasi-galvanic sensation in the region of the lumbar ver- 
tebrae which kept him from sleeping so long, in spite of 
great drowsiness. When I knew this, I removed it by a 
few passes, and thus obtained the sleep. I may here add, 
briefly, that from the first trial, Mr. W.'s health rapidly im- 
proved, and that by the fifth operation, long before sleep 
was produced, not only had the e3 r es, previously dry, red, 
and unhealthy-looking, become of a natural color, with a 
due proportion of moisture, but also a very copious, tough, 
and extremely offensive discharge from the nose, from which 
he had suffered more or less for years, (but which he had 
not mentioned to me,) having been very severe when I first 
magnetised him, had disappeared entirely, and been replaced 
by a perfectly natural secretion. Nor has this distressing 
affection once returned since, although Mr. W. has had fre- 
quent slight catarrhs, which, till I magnetised him, invari- 
ably aggravated the offensive discharge. I regard that 



284 PRODUCTION OF THE 

affection as permanently cured, and it must be borne in 
mind, that I was not even aware of its existence, while Mr. 
W. had never thought that it was to be removed by mag- 
netism. He declares that it had rendered his life burden- 
some to him, and no words can express the relief he has 
experienced. Such was the effect produced, by five opera- 
tions, on the state of the mucous membrane of the eyes and 
nose. But this was not all. His general health and spirits, 
from the time of the first trial, rapidly improved, so that 
the change was visible to every one, while he himself was 
so sensible of it, that he daily longed for the hour at which 
he was to be magnetised. When this had been done fifteen 
times, he found that his sight had begun to improve, so that 
he saw the full moon, which for two years he had been un- 
able to do, and about the same time began to perceive the 
gas lights in large shops, so as sometimes to be able to 
count them. It was only when he mentioned this, that I 
ventured to hope that by perseverance his sight might be 
permanently improved ; and in hopes of this, I have con- 
tinued to magnetise him, till, when I write, he has been 
magnetised 40 times, at first daily, more recently every 
other day. A slow improvement in the sight continues to 
appear, but in such a case, to obtain a satisfactory result, 
if that be possible, the treatment must be persevered in for 
a long period. I have mentioned in this place the effects of 
a short course of magnetism on the health of Mr. W., be- 
cause, from his being blind, it was necessary to describe the 
case. When I come to make some remarks on the thera- 
peutic agency of magnetism, I shall, instead of repeating 
what has here been said, simply refer to it. 

Case 22. — Mr. C. M. a student of Natural Philosophy. 
This young gentleman was acted on in the same way, 
and in the first sitting had convulsive twitches of the eye- 
lids, and of the arm, but no sleep. In the second, after I 
had gazed at him, holding his hands, for fifteen minutes, he 
slept for five minutes. After this I got him to sleep in three 
minutes, but was only able to do so four times, as he left 
town. I could, in this, as in the preceding cases, fix the 
duration of the sleep. 

None of these four gentlemen had ever been put to sleep 
by magnetism before I tried them, except Mr. D., Case 17, 
w r hom Mr. Lewis, at my request, tried one night to put to 



MAGNETIC SLEEP. 285 

sleep at my house, as I wished to ascertain -whether he 
could be put to sleep before beginning my experiments. 
Mr. Lewis soon produced a sleep, which was, however, im- 
perfect, similar to that which I also produced in the few 
first trials, so that, even in that case, the true, deep mag- 
netic sleep, or state of somnambulism, had never been pro- 
duced until I succeeded in producing it. — These cases will 
give a fair idea of what I experienced as to the induction 
of that state. They are not selected, but are simply the 
first four cases which I tried this season, and in which I 
persevered till sleep took place. In all of them, had I 
stopped short after one or only a few trials, I should have 
failed as to the sleep, and I think the results are sufficient 
to justify the conclusion, that most persons, if not all, may 
be thrown into somnambulism by perseverance and patience 
on the part of the operator. I possess no unusual mag- 
netic power, probably less than the average, and in most of 
the cases in which I had previously tried to cause the sleep 
in persons not yet magnetised by others, I had, just as in 
these, failed to do so on the first or second trial, and had 
therefore supposed that I had not the requisite power. 

I may here mention that I have this season tried to pro- 
duce the sleep in five other persons, not previously magnet- 
ised, and have succeeded in all but one. Thus, out of nine 
persons, not before magnetised, I have put to sleep eight. 
The ninth was only tried three times, which is not nearly 
enough to show that I should have ultimately failed with him. 
Among those with whom I succeeded was another blind 
man. But as I was unable to make further trials, except 
with the four cases first enumerated, I refrain from detail- 
ing the others. The method was the same, and the results 
exhibited nothing peculiar. 

I need not dwell longer on this subject, nor need I quote 
the published experience of others on this point. Enough 
has been said to show that the peculiar state called the 
magnetic sleep may be easily induced, in a large proportion 
of persons, with the aid of patience and perseverance. I 
have seen Mr. Lewis produce the sleep in numerous instances, 
generally by gazing alone, without even holding the hands. 
But, as I have already said, his power of concentration is 
very remarkable, and from what I have seen, I believe that 
there are very few persons whom Mr. Lewis could not put 



286 PKODUCTION OF THE SLEEP. 

to sleep, if not at the first trial, as very often happens with 
him, at all events after a few trials. It is quite obvious 
that such experiments succeed infinitely better in private 
than in public, or in a large party, because in the latter 
cases, the excitement of the patient, or his alarm, and the 
proximity of other persons, very much interfere with the 
result. 

It may be proper here to state, that in the case of Mr. 
D., who was frequently put to sleep in half a minute, or 
even a quarter of a minute, I found that I could pro- 
duce the sleep not only without contact, but without his 
knowing my intention. On one occasion, while he was 
intently engaged in conversation, and looking another way, 
I gazed steadily at him, from the side, at a distance of 
five or six feet, with the intention of putting him to sleep; 
in about 25 seconds his eyes closed, and he was found 
in a sleep as deep as I have ever seen. I desired him 
to sleep an hour, which he did, and on waking, his first 
words were to complain that I had not told him what I 
intended to do. Finding him thus susceptible, I intended 
to make a series of experiments in regard to the power of 
causing sleep at a distance, but unfortunately, Mr. D. was 
about this time seized with a severe illness, which had been 
impending over him for some time, in consequence of too ' 
severe study. It was chiefly an affection of the chest, which 
confined him to bed for some weeks, and after his recovery, 
his extraordinary susceptibility was gone, having evidently 
depended on a morbid state. It was therefore in my power 
only to make two experiments ; one, similar to that just 
described, and with the same result ; the other, in which, 
at a distance of about half a mile, I attempted to put him 
to sleep by concentrating my thoughts on him with that 
intention. I was interrupted before I had done so for more 
than two minutes ; but when I saw him, he spontaneously 
told me that, precisely at the time at which, unknown to 
him, I made the trial, he had felt an inclination to sleep, 
as well as the usual sensation when magnetised. I very 
much regret that I was unable to repeat this experiment ; 
for after his recovery, I found it far more difficult to mag- 
netise him than before his illness, although I could still 
produce full sleep. 



SUGGESTION IN THE SLEEP. 287 



B. Effects of Suggestion in the Sleep. 

Here it is only necessary to say, that every effect above 
described, as being produced by suggestion in the conscious 
impressible state, may be even more easily produced in the 
sleep. 

Case' 23. — When Mr. D. was asleep, I could render any 
limb, or the whole body, rigid at pleasure. I did not mul- 
tiply experiments of this kind, but only satisfied myself that 
suggestion acted on him as well when asleep, as it had done 
in the conscious state. I could also, with ease, fix the dura- 
tion of the sleep by a command. 

Case 24. — Mr. J. D., (a different subject,) put to sleep 
in my presence by Mr. Lewis, exhibited, in great perfec- 
tion, all the effects of suggestion. Whatever Mr. Lewis 
told him, he acted on it with a perfect conviction. He was 
thus made to fish, to shoot, to sing, to imagine himself a 
general or a lecturer, to take a stick for a sword or gun, a 
chair for a wild beast, to feel the pelting of a pitiless storm, 
to hear the thunder, to be drenched with rain or frozen 
with cold, to swim for his life in the flood, to taste water as 
beer, milk, lemonade, or whisky ; and when he had taken a 
little under the last-named form, to be so utterly drunk, 
that he could not stand without support. Indeed he con- 
tinued so perseveringly drunk, that it took Mr. Lewis a 
quarter of an hour to sober him. This subject exhibited a 
remarkable tendency at all times to persevere in any state 
in which he was put, so that it was often difficult to get him 
under the influence of a new suggestion, or to wake him 
when asleep, unless by causing him to promise that he would 
awake when desired to do so. On one occasion, this sub- 
ject was exhibited in public with great success. 

Not only are most subjects strongly influenced by sug- 
gestion while asleep, but they may in general be strongly 
influenced in the waking state, by a command given in the 
sleep. 

Case 25. — Thus, I could cause either Mr. D. or Mr. T. 
to forget everything that passed during the sleep, or to 
remember a part, or the whole of it, by commanding them 
to do so. I could, also, by a command given in the sleep, 
of which they had no recollection, fix the time necessary to 



288 PHRENO-MAGNETIC PHENOMENA. 

put them to sleep next day, and I made use of this power, 
to reduce that time from 20 or 30 gradually down to 2 
minutes or less. I could further determine the kind of feel- 
ing they should have after waking. Having observed that 
Mr. D. occasionally felt languid, he being unknown to me, 
in bad health, I used, in the sleep, to desire him to wake 
without that feeling of languor, and I found that when I 
did so, he always felt light and well. When I omitted it, 
his habitual languor prevailed. In his case, as in all the 
others, when the subjects w T ere in good health, (and Mr. D. 
w T as so after his severe illness,) I found the effect of the 
sleep always to be, that the patient was refreshed and felt 
happier. 

I have not myself made many experiments of this kind, 
having very soon seen enough to convince me that impres- 
sions made in the sleep are retained in the waking state, so 
as to influence the sensations and even the actions of the 
subject. Indeed, this phenomenon is one which presents 
itself so frequently, that it is found recorded in a large pro- 
portion of published cases. My space will not permit me 
to quote such cases, as I require it all for what I have seen 
and done in regard to other phenomena, as w r ell as for some 
interesting cases kindly communicated to me by others. I 
therefore pass on to another branch of the subject. 

C. PflRENO-MAGNETIC PHENOMENA IN THE SLEEP. 

I have already, in Part I., pointed out that there is con- 
siderable variety in these phenomena. We find many cases 
in which touching the head has no effect in exciting mani- 
festations of any kind. This is the case with Mr. D., Mr. 
T., Mr. H. W., and Mr. C. M., at least in that state in 
w 7 hich I have examined these gentlemen. There is another 
class of cases, in which the subject sympathises to such an 
extent with the operator, that the expressed and sometimes 
the silent will of the latter will produce any desired mani- 
festation, whatever part of the head, or even of the body be 
touched. Such cases, of which however I have seen little 
or nothing, fall under the head of sympathy, where the 
silent will operates, and of suggestion, where the volition 
is expressed. I shall not dwell on these, but shall only 
say, that I think there is good evidence of the existence of 



PHRENO-MAGNETIC PHENOMENA. 289 

such cases, and that of course they can furnish no evidence 
"whatever of the localisation of the cerebral organs. 

But there is a third class of cases, in which, so far as I 
can perceive, no other explanation is possible but this, that 
touching any part of the head excites to action the corres- 
ponding part of the brain. This I have often seen. I 
have already stated that no such effect took place with the 
four gentlemen on whom I have lately operated, but I shall 
here give a case or two to illustrate the phenomenon in 
question. 

Case 26. — A. F., a young man, was put to sleep by me 
in a few minutes. In this state, every part of the head 
that was tried, yielded striking manifestations of the cor- 
responding phrenological faculty. I had no reason to 
think that this young man knew the position of the organs 
nor anything about phrenology ; but even if he had some 
general notions on the subject, the effects produced appeared 
so rapidly that it was impossible for him to have simulated 
them, even had he been disposed to do so, which I am sure 
was not the case. Benevolence, Destructiveness, Combat- 
iveness, Secretiveness, Acquisitiveness, Self-Esteem, Love 
of Approbation, Veneration, Cautiousness, Adhesiveness, 
Philoprogenitiveness, Tune, &c, were all tried, first in rapid 
succession, and all yielded strong manifestations, although 
very often they w r ere quite different from w T hat I had ex- 
pected, or were distinct when I had no clear idea of how 
they were to be manifested. Benevolence being touched, 
he instantly began to give away all his money to me, taking 
me for an object of charity, and when I continued the con- 
tact, took off his coat to give me. This is the almost uni- 
versal manifestation of Benevolence, obviously because, 
when the feeling is excited, its most natural result is to give 
to those in want. Cautiousness produced the most vivid 
picture of terror I ever saw ; he said there was a fearful 
abyss before him, and felt as if he was to fall into it. Tune 
instantly caused him to sing ; Imitation, to imitate not 
only every sound he heard, but also, with closed eyes, the 
gestures made by those near him. It is impossible here to 
give all the details, suffice it to say, that although it all 
looked like first-rate acting, a close study of his counte- 
nance showed the most entire truthfulness. Besides, as I 
moved my hand from one organ to another, so rapidly as to 
25 



290 PHENOMENA AND CASES 

confuse any one not very much in the habit of guessing 
what organ is touched, the effects never failed to follow. 
To test him further, I tried touching two organs at once, 
and invariably obtained combined manifestations. Thus 
when Benevolence and Acquisitiveness were touched, he put 
his hands into his pockets as before, but instead of giving 
me the contents, he treated me to a lecture on the heinous- 
ness of begging, and declared that he thought giving money 
the worst kind of charity. Veneration alone caused him 
to pray humbly and devoutly ; Veneration and Self-Esteem 
combined, gave rise to a prayer, in a standing position, in 
which he returned thanks for having been made so superior 
to other men in religious knowledge. This combination 
was accidental, Self-Esteem having been first much excited, 
with very amusing results, and Veneration having been 
touched before the excitement of Self-Esteem had subsided, 
with the desire of reproducing the former humble devotion. 
Many similar trials yielded analogous results. I found also, 
that when, intending to touch one part, my hand accident- 
ally glided to another, the manifestation was always that of 
the part really touched, not of that which I intended to 
touch. In the region of the supposed organ of Alimentive- 
ness, I found, within a small space, three different points, 
the touching of one of which produced excessive desire to 
eat, of another, the desire to drink, of the third, sensations 
of smell. To obtain these results, which could not be 
known to the subjects, since they were not then published, 
nor generally known to phrenologists, although I had heard 
of them, it was necessary only to move the point of the 
finger one-fourth or one-eighth of an inch, the three points 
certainly lying in less than the surface of a shilling. In 
all these trials it did not signify what I wished, nor what I 
said, only such organs were excited as I touched. I had 
complete evidence that the subject did not sympathise with 
me or with my thoughts, but that my touch excited the 
faculty corresponding to the part touched. 

This case occurred to me in 1843, and at that time I had 
three other similar cases, in persons absolutely ignorant of 
phrenology, nay one of them, a girl of ten or eleven, of the 
lowest class, ignorant of everything, and very nearly im- 
becile. In some of these cases, certain organs could not 
be excited, while others were easily brought into action. 



OF PHRENO-MAGNETISM. 291 

In all of these, I assured myself that neither sympathy nor 
suggestion played a part. I shall now adduce a recent 
case. 

Case 27. — Mr. C, a young man, had been several times 
magnetised four years ago, but not since. I put him to 
sleep in one minute, and found him even more susceptible 
to the touch than A. F. The manifestations were very 
similar, but came out so rapidly, that it was hardly possible 
to be sure that a part was touched before the effect was pro- 
duced. If, while Benevolence was in action, I touched Ac- 
quisitiveness, he instantaneously collared me to recover 
what he had given me; if Combativeness were touched, before 
I could remove the finger he had struck out with his fist, 
and assumed a very pugnacious attitude. When I combin- 
ed Benevolence and Acquisitiveness, he pulled out money 
and offered it, but on my attempting to take it, always with- 
drew it, his eyes being closed, and told me he required it 
more himself. In short, whatever he was doing, the slight- 
est touch, even accidental, or with the cuff of my coat, on 
any organ, at once arrested him, and changed his action 
and expression. When in the act of falling on his knees, 
Veneration being touched, the slightest touch on Self-Esteem 
sent him up like a shot, or Combativeness made him attack, 
in the fraction of a second, whoever happened to be before 
him. In short, I could play on him, exactly as on an organ, 
producing any expression, gesture, or action I pleased, 
simple or combined. There was no silent or occult sym- 
pathy with me, and my expectations or wishes had no effect 
in modifying the results. It was quite impossible to doubt 
the entire sincerity of Mr. C, who was besides, in a deep 
magnetic sleep. This case, like that of A. F., could only 
be explained by supposing that touching the head excited 
to action the subjacent parts of the brain. 

But this case presented some other peculiarities. I could 
excite laughter by touching the organ of Gaiety or Mirth- 
fulness. But I could also cause laughter by touching the 
angles of the mouth, when it often became very violent. 
In either case, I had only to touch the middle of the chin, 
in order instantly to change the laugh into the profoundest 
gravity. This fact was pointed out to me by Mr. Bruce, 
who had studied the case four years before. He also told 
me, that touching a certain part of the leg caused the young 



292 SENSITIVENESS TO TOUCH. 

man to dance. I tried this, but probably did not touch the 
right spot, or touched it too strongly, for the result was a 
sudden and most violent kick, fortunately received by a table, 
and accompanied by a very angry pantomime. This I saw 
several times. When I placed my finger, for less than half 
a second, on his left breast, he instantly sank down as if 
fainting; but observing this, I placed my hand on Self- 
Esteem and Firmness, when he instantly rose into a posture 
of defiance. I am convinced that I could have caused him 
to faint entirely in a few seconds; nay, I think, in that state 
death might be produced by keeping the hand over the heart. 
The effect of touching certain parts of the body, no doubt 
depends on their nervous connection with the brain. 

Case 28. — P. G., a boy who has a bad impediment in his 
speech. I put him to sleep in two minutes, and found him 
susceptible to touch over the cercbal organs, but not so in- 
stantaneously as tyfr. C. His stammer was much diminished. 
The only peculiarity was, that when I touched the spine, 
about the third or fourth cervical vertebra, all the symptoms 
of intoxication appeared, particularly an absolute inability 
to keep his balance. 

These cases will suffice to illustrate this part of the sub- 
ject. They appear to me especially interesting, from the 
evidence they afford of the existence of an external influ- 
ence, which passes from the operator's hand to the subject. 
I may add, that in the case of Mr. C, contact is not indis- 
pensable. Pointing with the finger often brings out the 
effects. But even where contact is employed, the very 
marked and violent effects in so short a time, prove that an 
influence passes, to which the subjects, in a certain state, 
are particularly sensitive, as in the experiment of placing 
the finger over the heart of Mr. C. 

If it be asked why these effects did not occur in Messrs. 
D., T., H. TV., and C. M., I can only say, that I report the 
facts as I have found them ; but that I think it probable, 
that the sensitiveness to touch over the cerebal organs be- 
longs to a particular stage of the sleep, into which these 
four gentlemen did not come, but which occurred in the 
others. There is some reason to think that it is a stage not 
so deep as that in which Sympathy and Clairvoyance appear. 
But w T e are not yet able, at pleasure, to produce the stage 
we desire, and w T hile some easily pass into clairvoyance, 



SYMPATHETIC CLAIRVOYANCE. 293 

others only exhibit that stage in which the cerebral organs 
are excitable by touching the head or other parts. We now 
proceed to 

D. Sympathetic Clairvoyance in the Magnetic Sleep. 

This is a phenomenon which is exhibited in various forms, 
such as Thought-reading, the power of perceiving the state 
of health of those directly or indirectly in communication, 
or en rapport, with the sleeper, and sympathetic or mediate 
Clairvoyance. The cases which I have myself magnetised, 
have not exhibited, as yet, this power, but I have seen it in 
subjects magnetised by others. It is found either alone, or 
combined with the power of direct clairvoyance. E., the 
girl mentioned in Part I., under the care of Dr. Haddock 
at Bolton, possesses both powers to a high degree, and in 
particular, exhibits sympathetic clairvoyance, and the in- 
tuitive perception of the state of health, in regard to those 
placed in communication with her, either directly, that is, 
by contact, or indirectly, by means of their writing, or a 
lock of hair. As Dr. Haddock very kindly afforded me 
opportunities of examining this interesting case, I shall 
mention a few, out of many instances in which I tried her 
powers. 

Case 29. — 1. Before I had seen E., I sent to Dr. Had- 
dock the writing of a lady, without any details, requesting 
merely to know what E. should say of it. I did not even 
say it was a lady's writing, and, indeed, as the hand is a 
strong bold one, Dr. H. supposed it was that of a man. E. 
took it in her hand, she being in the sleep, and soon said, 
"I see a lady. She is rather below middle height, dark 
complexioned, pale, and looks ill." She then proceeded to 
describe the house, the drawing-room in which the lady was, 
her dress, and the furniture, all with perfect accuracy as 
far as she went. She said the lady was sitting at a long 
table close to the wall, something like a sideboard, writing 
a letter ; that on this table were several beautiful glasses, 
such as she had never seen. (In fact, this lady writes at a 
long sofa-table at the wall, on which stood then several 
Bohemian glasses.) She further detailed, with strict ac- 
curacy, all the symptoms of the lady's illness, mentioning 
several things, known to the lady alone. She also described 

25* 



294 SYMPATHETIC CLAIRVOYANCE. 

the treatment which had been followed, and said, among 
other things, that the lady had gone over the water, to a 
place where she drank " morning waters" for her health ; 
that the waters had a strange taste, but had done her good. 
(The lady had been at a mineral water in Germany, and had 
derived benefit from it. The water was always taken in the 
morning.) I need not enter into all the details ; it is enough 
to state, that not only Dr. H. did not know the lady, nor 
even her name, but that he had had no means of knowing 
any one of the details specified, and indeed rather supposed 
E. was wrong when she spoke of a lady, until he found that 
she was positive on that point. I received his answer, with 
the above and many more details, almost by return of post, 
and, in short, I was perfectly satisfied that E. had seen or 
perceived somehow, from the handwriting, all that she said, 
as I knew she had done in other cases. 

2. Some months later, I went with the same lady to 
visit E. She had never been told the lady's name, and was 
introduced to her and me^as to two strangers. "When she 
was put asleep, Dr. H. desired her to take the lady's hand. 
As soon as she did so, she said, " Oh ! you are the lady I 
went to see.'' " "Which lady?" said Dr. H. " Don't you 
remember? The lady who sat at the table with the pretty 
glasses." She then proceeded to say, that the lady had 
been lately again at a place, over the water, where she took 
morning waters, and where the people spoke gibberish; 
that she was better now, but had been worse, and that a 
doctor had repeatedly put something down her throat, 
which hurt her very much. (The throat had been cau- 
terised with lunar caustic.) She specified exactly the pre- 
sent symptoms, and entered into various minute details 
concerning what she had formerly seen, many of which 
Dr. H. had forgot, but which, on referring to his notes, 
made nearly six months before, he found to be correct. 
"Whenever she wished to recall anything of the former ex- 
periment, if she could not at once do so, she referred to 
her book, as she called it, that is, her right fore-arm, 
(I think.) on which, at the time, she makes notes, in the 
shape of imaginary signs to aid her memory. With the 
help of her book, she now proceeded to describe, as she had 
formerly seen them, the exterior of the house in Edinburgh, 
where she has never been; the street, (Prince's Street,) 



SYMPATHETIC RETRVOISION. 295 

which she said she had looked down upon from a point 
where she saw also houses above her. (The Earthen Mound.) 
She spoke of the long street, with a garden, and trees, and 
a deep hollow between it and the height opposite, and spoke 
of it all as if she were then looking at it, having, by refer- 
ence to her hook, recalled her former vision. While engaged 
in this, her book recalled to her a circumstance, which she 
had not mentioned to Dr. H. at the time, because, as she 
said, it had given her a fright, and she said nothing of it. 
Dr. H., much surprised, enquired what it was; when she 
told us, (for she answered my questions readily,) that on 
her way to my house, something had induced her to enter 
an old house on the height opposite the long street. I 
could not make out the precise spot, whether the upper 
part of the High Street, the Castle-hill, or the Castle itself. 
She said that she found her way into a room, in which sat 
a lady, richly dressed in a strange fashion ; that on seeing 
this lady, she felt as if the lady was fond of having people's 
heads cut off, and thinking her own would be cut off, she 
got out as fast as she could, and proceeded on her journey. 
3. I mention this vision, to which I have briefly alluded 
in Part L, because I am inclined to think that it was not a 
mere ordinary dream, but that she had, somehow, got into 
sympathy with a past period, a phenomenon which now and 
then presents itself. Being curious to enquire into this, I 
requested permission to ask a few questions, and E. agreed, 
if Dr. H. would take her, to go again to this house, and 
tell us more about it. He then, by some trifling manipula- 
tion, brought her into the travelling stage, in which she 
can go, mentally, to any distance, but only hears what is 
spoken with the lips touching the points of her fingers, and 
is stone deaf to all other sounds. She now described the 
room she had seen. The walls were of stone, covered with 
loose hangings, on which she saw pictures of beasts, &c. 
(evidently tapestry.) The lady was on a peculiar kind of 
sofa, and, as before, dressed in a strange but rich fashion. 
She wore a stiff ruff, standing up about her neck, and a 
cap, with a point down the middle of the forehead, and 
rising, curved, over the temples. This she explained, by 
drawing the shape of it with her finger. She was a great 
lady, and cried much over a baby. Her husband and she 
did not agree ; they differed on religious matters, and the 



296 SYMPATHETIC RETROVISION. 

lady was very fond of priests, Catholic priests. Thinks the 
lady was imprisoned in one of the highest houses, (qu? in 
the Castle?) at all events she was there. Here, in answer 
to questions, she said that she saw the child let down in a 
basket from a window, and, she thinks, the lady also, or at 
least a lady. The lady left that place, down below, after 
walking a short distance, in a strange kind of carriage; 
(from the description, a horse-litter.) She could see that 
the great lady was kept confined in another place, in a 
house with trees round it. Could not see beyond the trees. 
Saw the lady, another time, on horseback, riding very fast, 
to a water, which she crossed, and then gave herself up to 
people there. When asked, why she did so ? said, " Oh, 
you know, she thought they were friendly, but they were 
not." As some of these details led me to suppose that E. 
had got on the trace of Mary, Queen of Scots, I asked her 
to tell me what more she could see. She said that the 
people whom the great lady supposed to be friendly, put 
her in confinement. I then asked, what the lady died of? 
E. said she could not then see, being tired, but would be 
able to tell next morning. Next day, when put into the 
same state, Dr. H. asked the question again; when, after 
looking for a short time, E. said, " Oh ! dear, she died of 
this," drawing her hand across her neck, and added, with 
a smile, " I dare say, as she liked to cut people's heads off, 
they cut off hers, to see how she would like it herself." 
She had told us, on being asked, when she first saw the 
lady, that she was shelled, that is, dead ; for E., like many 
other subjects, w r ill never use the word death or dead. She 
had also told us, that the house was no longer as she saw 
it, but that the large room in which she saw the great lady 
was subdivided, by partitions, into smaller rooms, and en- 
tirely changed ; that she saw it as it had been formerly. 

Now, even if we regard this vision as a mere dream, it 
is curious. Her whole manner, and the way in which she 
answered, proved to me that she was describing what she 
saw, and was as much surprised as I was. I conjecture, 
that having somehow been brought into sympathy with past 
events, and persons long dead, she saw confusedly, and 
mixed up together different persons. It appears to me, 
that some part of what she saw refers to Mary, and the 
rest to other persons ; that she had no distinct idea of dates, 



SYMPATHETIC RETROVISION. 297 

and confused various periods and events, but that, on the 
whole, she was, to a certain extent, in sympathy with the 
past. The question is, if this be so, how was she brought 
into this sympathy? and the only conjecture I can form is, 
that Dr. EL, who had passed through Edinburgh some little 
time before, having visited the Castle, and there heard a 
variety of traditions, more or less erroneous, about Mary, 
sympathy with his thoughts had led E., when in the travel- 
ling stage, in w r hich her power of sympathy is singularly 
developed, to diverge from the direct route to my house, 
and to enter, mentally, some room in the Castle, probably 
that in which James VI. was born, and that she had there 
found traces of past events and persons. I must observe, 
that at this time E. could neither read nor write, and in her 
ordinary waking state, appeared to have no knowledge 
whatever of history. Even if she had, which, however, I 
do not believe, many of the details are not such as are found 
in popular histories ; for example, when she spoke of the 
great lady as confined in a house, surrounded by trees, she 
could not, even after I asked her, see water near it. Now 
any one, who was dreaming, or pretending to dream, from 
a knowledge of popular history, would naturally have thought 
of Lochleven Castle, and the escape of Mary from it, the 
most popularly known of all the events of her history, not 
excepting the murder of Rizzio, which also was not alluded 
to. I conclude, therefore, that whether this be a mere 
dream or not, E. was not, consciously or unconsciously, 
thinking of Mary, or dreaming of her, from what she knew 
of her, but, by means of some vague sympathy with Dr. H., 
was brought into a confused state of perception of past 
events. I would repeat, that having observed her very 
closely, I am thoroughly satisfied of her sincerity, and that 
I have every reason to believe her utterly ignorant of every 
thing relating to Scotland and Scottish history. If I were 
fortunate enough to possess the handwriting of Mary, or a 
genuine lock of her hair, or any trinket which certainly had 
belonged to her, I should try E. with it, and I am confident, 
from what I have seen, that she would then be able to per- 
ceive more clearly. 

4. I gave E. a letter, which Dr. H. supposed to be written 
by a lady. E. did not look at it, but felt it in her hand, 
and laid it on her head. She began to speak of a lady, 



298 CLAIRVOYANCE BY HANDWRITING. 

who kept coming before her, but was not the writer of the 
letter. On the contrary, this lady prevented her from dis- 
tinguishing the writer. She requested Dr. H. to remove 
this influence, which he did by blowing on the letter, and 
passing his hand briskly over it several times. She then 
put it on her head, and said that it was written by a little 
boy, whom she described very accurately, dwelling particu- 
larly on the peculiarities of his disposition, his old-fashioned 
ways, as she called them, his love of reading and various 
other points all more or less characteristic. His dress as- 
tonished her very much, and she described it most minutely 
in every part. It was the Highland dress, and she gave 
the colors and pattern of the tartan, as well as every other 
detail of the boy's dress and accoutrement. It appeared 
that she had never seen the Highland dress worn, and she 
thought it must be very cold. The boy was my own son, 
then in Edinburgh, and neither E. nor Dr. H. knew that I 
had a son, or that he wore the Highland dress. She told 
us that the lady she had first seen was one who was much 
attached to the boy, and described her accurately. This 
lady had charge of the boy during my absence, and his 
letter had been enclosed in one from her, from which it had 
just been taken when it was given to E. This accounted, 
Dr. H. told us, for her seeing the lady. When E. was 
asked whether she could see or discover the mother of the 
boy, she said that she had at first supposed the lady whose 
figure first came before her to be the mother, but had soon 
discovered that she was not. She said she would try to 
find her out, and would, as she said, ask the boy to tell 
her where his mother was. After a silence, she said, "the 
mother left home some time since, and went over the water, 
but I cannot see her there now, although I see her marks 
in the place where she was. If Dr. H. will bring me back 
to Bolton, I shall be able to find her." Dr. H. then, by a 
few manipulations, brought her back to her original mag- 
netic state, and the boy's mother, who was present, having 
touched her hand, she exclaimed with surprise, " why, you 
are the mother of the little boy." She then said that she 
had been looking for the lady over the water, and had 
asked the people whom she saw to tell where she was, but 
that they spoke gibberish which she could not understand. 
She felt, however, that on returning to Bolton she would 



SYMPATHETIC CLAIRVOYANCE. 299 

be able to find that lady. I have mentioned these experi- 
ments with E. in some detail, (although I have omitted 
many particulars,) because they gave me the opportunity 
of ascertaining that E. was perfectly honest and sincere, 
and could be put into a genuine and very deep magnetic 
sleep, in w T hich her sympathetic clairvoyance was truly 
remarkable, being exercised at great distances with the same 
facility as on the spot, provided a means of communication 
were provided. I also saw, that Dr. Haddock operated 
with great care and judgment. 

After I returned to Edinburgh, I had very frequent com- 
munication with Dr. H., and tried many experiments with 
this remarkable subject, sending specimens of writing,, locks 
of hair, and other objects, the origin of which was perfectly 
unknown, to Dr. H., and in every case, without exception, 
E. saw and described with accuracy the persons concerned. 
In other cases, two of which are very interesting, I sent 
writing or hair, belonging to persons unknown to myself, 
and obtained accounts of them, which I cannot yet verify. 
But possibly I may be able to do so, in time for a note, to 
be added at the end of this work. It would be entirely 
useless to publish her statements in those cases, until I shall 
have ascertained whether they are correct or not. But 
from what I have seen of her powers, I expect that these 
statements will be found correct. I shall here adduce one 
case, in which E. exhibited, not only sympathetic, but direct 
clairvoyance. 

Case 30. — A nobleman of high rank, much devoted to 
science, found one day, among the gravel in his garden- walk, a 
small flint arrow-head, such as was in former ages used by the 
Britons, and is often called a " celt." This I folded in 
several folds of thick white blotting-paper, enclosed it in 
an envelope, which was sealed, and placed this in a second 
envelope. I then sent it to Dr. IL, requesting him to ask E. 
to look at it, and tell us what she could about it. When 
given to her, the sealed envelope was inclosed in a second, 
and from the way in w^hich I had folded it up, no one, out 
of several whom I tried, could guess the form of the arrow- 
head by feeling it. E. first held it in her hand, and then 
laid it on her head, and very soon drew an outline of the 
form of the object, which she said was enclosed in several 
folds of blotting paper, nearly white. As it was very small, 



300 SYMPATHETIC CLAIRVOYANCE. 

only about an inch, long, and very sharp at one end, E. at 
first took it for the tooth of some large animal. She said 
its color was yellowish white, with a few dark streaks, and 
pointed out where the edges were chipped. On pursuing 
her examination, she said that it could not be a tooth, as it 
was made of stone, and after (mentally) biting it, in doing 
which she merely approached the packet to her mouth, and 
appeared to be biting something, she declared without 
further hesitation that it was made of flint. Every detail 
she gave I found perfectly accurate, and as the packet was 
returned to me intact, I have no doubt that E. saw the ob- 
ject perfectly by direct clairvoyance. She could not, how- 
ever, tell its use, but by sympathy, she went on to say, that 
a gentleman had found it in a gravel walk in a garden ; 
that he had worn it, that is, carried it, in his waistcoat 
pocket, (I think she said the left,) for some time ; that this gen- 
tleman was a very great gentleman, and, in answer to suc- 
cessive questions, she gave the title appropriate to his rank. 
She was asked to observe more about him, and then said 
she saw him in a palace house ; she spoke in whispers out 
of respect, and when her attention was drawn to the point, 
described the nobleman's person very correctly. This was 
done on a subsequent occasion, as I had requested Dr. H., 
when I found E. had discovered the finder of the arrow- 
head, to ask her further questions about him. In sending 
the packet to Dr. H., and until I had heard all that E. had 
to say, I carefully avoided giving the slightest information, 
either as to the object or the finder. 

Case 31. — Sir Walter C. Trevelyan, Bart., having re- 
ceived a letter from a lady in London, in which the loss of 
a gold watch, supposed to have been stolen, was mentioned, 
sent the letter to Dr. H. to see whether E. could trace the 
watch. She very soon saw the lady, and described her ac- 
curately. She also described minutely the house and fur- 
niture, and said she saw the marks of the watch (the phrase 
she employs for the traces left by persons or things, pro- 
bably luminous to her) on a certain table. It had, she said, 
a gold dial-plate, gold figures, and a gold chain with square 
links ; in the letter it was simply called a gold watch, with- 
out any description. She said it had been taken by a 
young woman, whom she described, not a habitual thief, 
who felt alarmed at what she had done, but still thought 



CLAIRVOYANT PERCEPTION. 301 

her mistress would not suspect her. She added that she 
would be able to point out the writing of the thief. On this 
occasion, as is almost always the case with E., she spoke to 
the person seen, as if conversing with her, and was very 
angry with her. Sir W. Trevelyan sent this information, 
and requested the writing of all the servants in the house 
to be sent. In answer, the lady stated that E.'s descrip- 
tion exactly applied to one of her two maids, but that her 
suspicions rested on the other. She also sent several pieces 
of writing, including that of both maids. E. instantly se- 
lected that of the girl she had described, became very angry, 
and said, "You are thinking of pretending to find the watch 
and restoring it, but you took it, you know you did." Be- 
fore Sir W. Trevelyan' s letter, containing this information, 
had reached the lady, he received another letter, in which 
he was informed that the girl indicated as the thief by E. 
had brought back the watch, saying she had found it. In 
this case, Sir W. Trevelyan was at a great distance from 
Bolton ; and even had he been present, he knew nothing of 
the house, the watch, or the persons concerned, except the 
lady, so that, even had he been in Bolton, and beside the 
clairvoyante, thought-reading was out of the question. I 
have seen, in the possession of Sir Walter, all the letters 
which passed, and I consider the case as demonstrating the 
existence of sympathetic clairvoyance at a great distance. 
In Part I., I have alluded to various other instances, in 
which E. has traced, and been the means of recovering, lost 
or stolen property and documents, when put in communica- 
tion with the proprietors of them. I shall now proceed, 
merely referring to these cases, some of which have been 
published, to describe some experiments, also alluded to in 
Part I., which were made by Sir W. C. Trevelyan, to test 
E.'s power of sympathetic clairvoyance, with the view of 
ascertaining whether it was effected with or without thought- 
reading, and also her power of observing the hour of day 
at distant places, visited mentally by her in the magnetic 
sleep. These experiments were, I think, extremely well 
devised, and satisfactory in their results. 

Case 32. — Sir W. T. requested the Secretary of the Geo- 
graphical Society to send him the writing of several per- 
sons, unknown to him, and without their names, they being 
26 



302 OF TIME IN DISTANT PLACES. 

in different parts of the world. Three handwritings were 
sent. 

1. E. soon discovered No. 1, and described his person, 
as well as the city in which he was, and the surrounding 
country. When asked the hour there, she looked, but said 
she could not tell. It appeared on subsequent enquiry, that 
No. 1 was in Rome, and that E.'s description of him, as 
well as of the city, &c. was exact. As she generally finds 
the hour by looking at some clock or watch, it would appear 
that she had been puzzled by the clocks of Rome, which 
have 24 hours, instead of 12. 

2. In the case of No. 2, E. soon discovered where he 
was, and gave the hour there ; but it is remarkable, that 
she could not see the person himself. She described the 
country, and spoke of crops of large yellow corn then 
standing (late in October). The longitude, calculated from 
the hour she gave, corresponded to that of a part of Tus- 
cany ; and on enquiry it was found, that No. 2 resided 
in Florence, but was in the habit of travelling about the 
country. The corn appears to have been the second crop of 
maize, which was then standing in Tuscany. 

3. In the case of No. 3, E. found and described him, and 
said he was in a street which she described, in a large city ; 
the time she gave differed from that of Bolton by 2J or 3 
minutes only, and indicated the longitude of. London. On 
enquiry it appeared, that when the writing was sent, No. 3, 
whose person was accurately described, was supposed to be 
at a much greater distance than the others ; but that, before 
E. saw his writing, he had unexpectedly returned, and was 
then in London. 

In these experiments, which were communicated to me 
by Sir W. Trevelyan, thought-reading was out of the ques- 
tion ; for Sir W. T. did not know even the names of the 
persons, and if he had known all about them, he was not at 
Bolton, but in Edinburgh. Dr. Haddock had no knowledge 
whatever of the persons whose writing was sent. — I include 
these and the preceding cases under sympathetic clairvoy- 
ance, because in all, a communication of some kind, by 
writing or otherwise, was established. But it would appear 
as if this were only necessary, in order to put the clairvoy- 
ante on the trace of the person seen ; and that when that 
trace is found, it is followed up, in E.'s case, by direct 



THE BOLTON CLAIRVOYANTE. 303 

.clairvoyance. At least, she always speaks as if she saw 
before her what she describes, or rather, as if she were in 
the place described; and in Sir W. Trevelyan's experiments, 
that form of sympathetic clairvoyance which consists in 
thought-reading, is excluded by the circumstances. It is 
possible, that w T hen E. examined the letter of my son, she 
might have read my thoughts, as I was present; but I do 
not think this was the case, for the letter was given to her 
by Dr. H., who supposed it to be from a lady, and during 
the whole conversation, although we were thinking and 
speaking of the same subject, I could not observe any rela- 
tion between what I thought and what she said, beyond the 
subject of our conversation. On the contrary, her atten- 
tion was constantly attracted to details of which I was not 
then thinking. But even if E. did exhibit the power of 
thought-reading, which she very probably may do at times, 
we must not forget, that that power is really as wonderful, 
and as difficult to explain, as sympathetic or direct clairvoy- 
ance. 

I have mentioned, in the first Part of this work, a re- 
markable case, in which this same clairvoyante, with the 
aid of handwriting, traced the progress of a gentleman, Mr. 
W. Willey, then in California, as well as of another person 
who accompanied Mr. W., and whose writing was also 
shown to her. In this case, which was published in the 
newspapers, E. gave a multitude of details in regard to the 
persons, their voyage, their occupations, and various occur- 
rences, the whole of which details were, in so far as con- 
cerned the period subsequent to their embarking at Liverpool, 
entirely unknown to their families, but were afterwards fully 
confirmed in every point by Mr. W. on his return. It is 
worthy of remark, that E. minutely described the country, 
the houses, and the mode of life of the place in which she 
saw these persons. It was evidently St. Francisco and 
California ; but although she spoke of their digging sand, 
and even, when desired to look, said she saw shining par- 
ticles in the sand, and gave its value in dols or dollies, as 
she called them, which information she seemed to obtain by 
conversing with the people she saw, she never spoke of gold, 
and wondered much why Mr. W. took the trouble to go so 
far, to dig sand, which he might have found at home. Had 
she been dreaming of California from ideas suggested to 



304 THE BOLTON CLAIRVOYANTE. 

her mind, she certainly would have noticed the gold. I 
conclude, therefore, that she merely described what she 
saw, and did not understand it. That her descriptions of 
the persons, the places they had passed through, and the 
events that had happened to them, both in the voyage out 
to Panama, in crossing the Isthmus, and in the voyage to 
St. Francisco, as well as in that city, were exact, cannot 
possibly be accounted for by any suggestion, even had such 
been attempted, or in any other way than by the same 
power of sympathetic or of direct clairvoyance, which I 
found her to possess in the cases in which I tried her. It 
was in this case that E. spoke of Mr. Morgan, the com- 
panion of Mr. Willey, as having had a fever, and having 
also had, during his illness, a vision or dream of his wife 
coming to see him. She also said that he had fallen over- 
board. All these details, and many others, were exact, but 
quite unknown to any one in England at the time, and she 
gave them as if they were Mr. M.'s answers to her questions. 
I have mentioned, that E. always speaks to the persons she 
sees, and holds long conversations with them. 

Case 33. — It is pretty generally known, that this clair- 
voyante was tried with the writing of Sir John Franklin, 
and a part of what she said has appeared in the newspapers. 
I had the opportunity of becoming acquainted with what she 
did really say, and, although of course the greater part of it 
cannot be verified until the return of Sir John, yet I am 
bound here to testify, although she has probably mixed up 
and confused many things, which we have not the means of 
distinguishing, that E. has said nothing concerning him which 
may not prove correct. It appears that some clairvoyants, of 
whom I know nothing, went so far as to predict the return of 
Sir John during last autumn. If such predictions were made, 
by genuine and honest clairvoyants, I conjecture that they 
have been of that class, who are strongly affected by sympathy 
with the feelings and wishes of those who consult them, 
which feelings and wishes they, as it were, reflect. But this 
is not the case with E. She has made no prediction in the 
matter, but has simply, at various times, with the aid of Sir 
John's handwriting, gone, in her phrase, to see him. She 
was not told, and does not, I believe, even yet know, whose 
writing it was ; but she found the writer in one of two ships, 
fixed in ice, and surrounded with walls of snow. These ships 



HER VISIONS OF SIR JOHN FRANKLIN. 305 

she first saw in the winter of 1849-50, I believe ; I saw 
several of Dr. Haddock's letters about it in February and 
March 1850. Since E. had been right in so many cases at 
a distance, it was probable that she was also right in this 
one. She described the dress, mode of life, food, &c. of the 
crews. She saw and described Sir John, and said that he 
still hoped to get out, but was much surprised that no ves- 
sels had come to assist him. She frequently spoke of his 
occupations, and when asked the time of clay, found it either 
by looking at a timepiece in the cabin, or by consulting Sir 
John's watch. During the winter and spring of 1849-50, 
and part of the summer of 1850, she uniformly indicated the 
same difference of time, which I cannot at present give pre- 
cisely, but which was nearly seven hours. At whatever hour 
she was magnetised and sent there, she always made the 
same difference. Nay more, when the time there was nine 
or ten A. M. (four or five P.M. at Bolton) she would say that 
such was the hour, but that it was still dark, and lights were 
burning in the early part of summer. Now it is quite absurd 
to suppose that this totally uneducated girl has any notion 
of the relation of longitude to time, or of the difference be- 
tween an arctic day and one in our latitude. E. also, being 
shown the handwriting of several of the officers of the expe- 
dition, found and described them. One was dead (shelled, 
as she said,) when she was asked. Another, at a later pe- 
riod, was dangerously frostbitten, but recovered. She said, 
that in one of the ships the provisions were exhausted, but 
that the other contained provisions. She described the fish, 
seals, and other animals hunted and killed for food and oil 
by the crews. Of, or rather to, one officer she said that he 
was the doctor, although not dressed like a doctor, but like 
the rest, in skins ; that he was a first-rate shot, and was fond 
of killing animals to preserve them. (This is really the case 
with Mr. Goodsir, whose writing she was then examining.) 
She added a multitude of curious details, for which I have 
no space, and they will no doubt be published by Dr. Had- 
dock. But I may mention, that on a Sunday afternoon in 
February 1850, she said it was about 10 A. M. there, and 
described the captain (Sir John) as reading prayers to the 
crew, who knelt in a circle, with their faces upwards, look- 
ing to him, and appearing very sorrowful. She even named 
the chapter of St. Mark's gospel which he read on that occa- 

26* 



306 THE BOLTON CLAIRVOYANTE. 

sion. She also spoke, on one occasion, of Sir John as de- 
jected, which- he was not before, and said that the men tried 
to cheer him up. She further spoke of their burning coarse 
oil and fish refuse for warmth, and drinking a finer oil for 
the same purpose. All this time, she continued to give the 
same difference of time, from which the longitude might be 
calculated. This time, seven hours, or nearly, from Bolton, 
gives a west longitude of about 100° to 115°, which cor- 
responds very well with the probable position of Sir John. 
But at a later period, all of a sudden she gave a difference 
of time of somewhere between six and seven hours, indicat- 
ing that the ships had moved eastward. She was not, after 
this, quite so uniform in the difference of time as before, and 
seemed not to see it so clearly ; but she persisted that they 
had moved homeward, and if we take about 6J hours as the 
later difference, this would indicate a longitude of about 97° 
30' W. After this change, she also said that Sir John had 
been met and relieved, and has always since then seen three, 
ships, which, for a long time past, are said by her to be frozen 
up together. The last observation of which I have heard, 
17th February 1851, gave a longitude of 101° 45' W. At 
the same time, from Captain Austin's writing, which has also 
been frequently tried, she gave, for him, the longitude of 
95° 45' W. She does not know whose ship it is, that, ac- 
cording to her, has met with Franklin, but she still speaks 
of three ships together. I should add, that when E. has 
been sent there at such an hour and season that it was night 
in those latitudes, she has, quite spontaneously, described 
the aurora borealis, which she once saw, as an arch, rising 
as if from the ground at one end, and descending to it again 
at the other. From this arch, colored streamers rose up- 
wards, and some of these curved backwards. She was much 
surprised and delighted with it, and asked if that was the 
country the rainbow came from. She had never been told 
any thing whatever about the aurora, and knows nothing 
of it. 

Now, in all these details, and many others of a similar 
nature, there is nothing impossible, nothing which may not 
be found correct. Many of E.'s observations on this subject 
have been published, and all have been communicated to 
various persons by Dr. Haddock, so that, when the ships 
return, her accuracy or inaccuracy may be tested. I have 



SYMPATHETIC KETRO VISION. 307 

lately heard, that she speaks of a second officer as dead, and 
thinks he died about six months ago. Considering what I 
have myself seen E. do, and the numerous cases in which I 
know her to have been correct in her visions, I am disposed 
to think that she may possibly be found right in many points, 
with regard to Sir John Franklin. Certainly, it is not easy 
to see any greater difficulty in his case, than in that of Mr. 
W., whose proceedings in California were accurately de- 
scribed. But it is not likely that she has always been right, 
and it is probable that she may often have been misunder- 
stood, and may, as I have already said, have confused dif- 
ferent persons and times. 

I might give many more instances of E.'s powers, but the 
instances I have given are sufficient, I think, to illustrate 
the form of clairvoyance, as it occurs in this very remarkable 
subject. 

I mentioned in case 29, the singular circumstances of E. 
having been led, while on her way, mentally, to visit my 
house in Edinburgh, to enter some old house, where she was, 
as it were, transported to past times. In order to show that 
this is not an isolated fact, I shall here quote a very remarka- 
ble case, of a very similar kind, which occurred to Major 
Buckley, and which he has kindly allowed me to take from 
his notes. 

Case 34. — What follows is transcribed from Major Buck- 
ley's Note-book. B. denotes the patient, M. the magnetiser. 
Mr. B., the patient, was a young officer, whom Major Buck- 
ley magnetised for his health, and who became lucid on the 
first occasion. He almost instantly acquired the power of 
visiting distant places, and of reading through opaque 
bodies. He used also to go into a deeper state, which he 
liked, probably because he had, in that state, very vivid and 
agreeable visions. On the 15th of Nov. 1845, Major Buck- 
ley, at his request, allowed him to go into that deeper state 
for about ten minutes, after which he awoke, so to speak, 
into his usual clairvoyant state, in which he could converse 
readily with his magnetiser. His first remark was: " B. 
I have had a strange dream about your ring, (a medallion 
of Antony and Cleopatra.) It is very valuable." M. " Yes ; 
it is worth 60 guineas." B. " Oh ! it is worth a great deal 
more." Placing the ring in his hand, Major B. said ?# M. 
" Can you tell me its history ?" B. " Oh ! now I see it all 



308 MAJOR BUCKLEY'S CASE 

again. If what I say be true, it is very valuable. It has 
belonged to "royalty." M. " In what country?" B. "I 
see Mary Queen of Scots. It was given to her by a man, 
a foreigner, with other things from Italy. It came from 
Naples. It is not the same gold (that is, the setting is not 
that which it once had). She wore it only once. The person 
who gave it to her was a musician." M. " Can you tell me 
his name ?" B. "It begins with an R. Oh! I see his sig- 
nature. After the II there is an I, then there is a letter 
which looks like Z, then another Z, then an I, then there 
is something which looks like an E, with a curious flourish 
over it. I can write it." (He went to a table, and wrote 
the name, then added), "There is something more. All 
this is secret." He then wrote at long intervals, until the 
paper marked 1. was finished. Once when I looked over 
his shoulder, he said I had caused him to make a mistake. 
It was while he was writing to the left of the signature 
marked 2. B. " The writing (that which he saw, and was 
copying) is on vellum. Here (pointing to the middle) I see 
a diamond cross ; the smallest diamond is larger than this 
(pointing to one of about four carats). It was worn, out of 
sight, by Mary. The vellum has been shown in the House 
of Lords (qu. ? of Scotland? — W. G.); not the cross. They 
were afterwards placed w T here I now see them, in the wall 
of a stone building, erected before the reign of Elizabeth. 
It is now in ruins, and used as a farm-house." M. " Who 
are living in it?" B. " Only an old man. It is a place 
of concealment in the wall, opened by an iron spring. Oh ! 
I see how to open it. You push in a small stone near it. 
There are many valuable things there. Nobody knows of 
them but myself. . . . The ring w T as taken off Mary's 
finger by a man." M. "Did he steal it?" B. "No; he 
took it off in anger and jealousy, and threw it into the water. 
When he took it off, she was being carried in a kind of bed, 
with curtains (a litter). I now see the man who gave her 
the ring ; he is in a room. I see many more men. There 
is a secret door. I see a man with a dagger." Here he 
shuddered very much ; and added, " They have murdered 
him. There is a gash here (pointing to his throat). Oh, 
Mary is screaming dreadfully. That man (probably the 
one who took away the ring. — W. G.) has seized her by the 
hair." Here he was very much agitated. M. " Don't think 



OF SYMPATHETIC RETROVISION. 309 

any more about it. 5 ' B. (after a pause) "I am looking back 
about 300 years. M. " Where are you?" B. "In Scot- 
land." 

He was again magnetised, three weeks afterwards. On 
placing the ring in his hand, he said : B. " You thought I 
would forget about the ring?" M. "No, but I wish you 
to show me where you made a mistake in copying this'' 
(producing the paper marked No. 1). B. " It was here." 
He then rewrote the words marked, separately, 3, adding 
the letters PAR after the word AMEZ. " Between PAR 
and VOUS some letters are covered with something green 
and wet." He dotted round the spot (of mould) marked 4. 
"I see some letters on the cross. There is an M, an S, 
then a small word ; then a large R. The ornaments on the 
corners of the vellum are in gold." Major B. did not 
enquire what they represented. Those on the right of the 
signature resemble the leaves of the thistle, those on the 
left the flowers. Major Buckley appended to his letter a 
rough copy of the drawing or copy made by Mr. B. from the 
vellum he saw in his vision ; to this sketch the numbers refer. 
It represents an oblong sheet, apparently of small size, in 
the copy sent to me about 5 inches by 2J. 

1. The signature. 2. The words on the left, as first 
written. The second copy he made of these words, adding 
PAR, is given at the foot, No. 3. No. 4 is the spot of 
mould, concealing some letters. (The sentence most pro- 
bably runs thus, "Vous amez (aimez) parceque vous etes 
bonne." I do not know whether Mr. B. saw only a small 
bit of vellum, like that here sketched, or whether he saw 
only the end of a larger portion, to which the signature was 
attached. It would appear that Mr. B. saw the writing so 
distinctly as to be able to copy it, but the sketch here given 
only gives a general idea of the style of it, as I have not 
seen the original drawing of Mr. B. — W. G.) 

I regard this vision as a most remarkable one, because it 
was quite spontaneous, and nothing was known, even to 
Major Buckley, of the history of his ring, except that his 
father, in 1829, had had it for 60 years, having purchased 
it at the sale of the effects of a gentleman. The ideas in 
the vision, therefore, could not have been suggested by 
Major B., nor read in his thoughts. Then the very minute 
detail of the writing, and the intense agitation of the sleeper 
on seeing, acted before him, the murder of Rizzio, tend to 



310 



MAJOR BUCKLEY S CASE. 




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vous AMCT.- 



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VOOJ ETES&QHtfg 
JST92 





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OF SYMPATHETIC RETROVISION. 311 

show that the vision was at all events genuine. As to its 
accuracy, little can now be said ; but it is conceivable that, 
if properly tried, the clairvoyant might be able to discover 
the place where the vellum lies. If Rizzio ever presented 
Mary with a ring, or cross (although so very valuable a 
present as the diamond cross, is more likely to have been 
from the Pope through Eizzio), accompanied by such a manu- 
script, it is probable enough, that it (the MS.) may have 
been produced against her by her enemies, in the House of 
Lords or Privy Council of Scotland, nay possibly even in 
England, and afterwards concealed. Unfortunately Major 
Buckley has not been able, on account of Mr. B.'s absence 
from England, to magnetise him again. Other clairvoyants 
have been tried w^ith the ring, and have, without the least 
knowledge of each other, or of what had been said, corro- 
borated the main facts about the ring. This, as Major 
Buckley was the operator, might possibly depend on thought- 
reading, since he now had those ideas ; but it would appear 
that this was not the case, as they have added new details 
of the history of the ring. Thus, one traced it from the 
time it w T as thrown into the water. It was fished up by a 
man in a boat, something like a wooden box (a punt) ; that 
he kept it for some years, and then gave it to his Son, who 
lost it by shifting his stick from one hand to another as he 
walked. It remained lost for many years, till found by a 
man with two dogs, described by the clairvoyant ; by him it 
was sold, and finally came into the possession of a gentleman 
w T ho shot himself. The suicide was seen and described, both 
by this and another clairvoyante, who were much affected 
and agitated by it. (Indeed the sight of blood or death in 
their visions, almost invariably produces the most painful 
effects on clairvoyants, as was the case with Mr. B. on 
seeing Rizzio's murder.) They said it took place in his 
drawing-room, and that the ball passed through his body. 
One or both of these clairvoyants added, that at the sale of 
the effects of the suicide, the ring had been bought by Major 
B.'s father, who had kept it for 60 years, and that Major 
B. had had it upwards of 15 years. It must be admitted, 
then, that there is considerable probability that the vision 
of Mr. B. may have been a true vision of past events. Not 
only are the chief statements as to its early history con- 
firmed by others, but the only part of its history that can 



312 MAJOR BUCKLEY'S CASE. 812 

at present be ascertained, proves to be as described by the 
clairvoyants. For, till they mentioned it, Major Buckley 
did not know that his father had obtained it at the sale of 
the effects of a gentleman who had committed suicide ; but 
he has since ascertained that this was really the case. And 
although what Mr. B. said of the murder of Rizzio corre- 
sponds with the history of that tragedy, yet all the rest of 
the details are such as no history could suggest. 

It appears to me highly probable, that if those who are 
fortunate enough to meet with clairvoyants of such a kind 
as Mr. B., and to be allowed to study them, were to try 
them with trinkets, &c, which are known to have belonged 
to historical personages (as Mr. B. was tried with this ring by 
accident), many curious details might be discovered. Hair, 
hand-writing and articles of dress worn by the persons, 
would probably answer equally well. In this way it is pos- 
sible that missing historical documents might be recovered, 
where they still exist; and I know that the girl E. has been 
the means of recovering or finding three registers which 
had been sought for in vain. 



LETTER XVII. 

Before passing on to another branch of the subject, I 
would point out, that those subjects who exhibit clairvoy- 
ance in the forms hitherto described, are not always found 
accurate in their visions. I have already mentioned in 
Part I., that there are many known and some unknown 
causes of confusion in the results, so that, where we cannot 
verify them, we must be cautious of attaching too much 
credit to these visions. One frequent source of error is, 
that the subject may see past events, and suppose that they 
are present. Sometimes, by urging the clairvoyant to at- 
tend very closely, we may discover that he is speaking, not 
of passing events, but of what has happened, a shorter or 
a longer time before. But notwithstanding this, and other 
sources of error, there are cases, in which the clairvoyant 
sees so clearly, and sympathises so intensely with the person 



DIRECT CLAIRVOYANCE. 313 

seen, as to be able to speak without hesitation. As a 
general rule, we ought to verify the vision, before admitting 
it as an instance of genuine clairvoyance. 

E. Direct Clairvoyance in the Magnetic Sleep. 

Under this head I include cases, in which the clairvoyant, 
without any means of communication whatever, such as 
contact with the person, or with his hair, or his handwriting, 
or any other object connected with him, exhibits the same 
powers as are mentioned under the preceding head, that of 
Sympathy. I include here also, those cases in which the 
sleeper is able to describe or read the contents of closed 
and sealed packets and envelopes, just as we have seen that 
some can do in the conscious state. 

Case 35. — At the house of Dr. Schmitz, Rector of the 
High School here, I saw a little boy, of about nine years 
of age, put into the magnetic sleep by a young man of 
seventeen. As the boy was said to be clairvoyant, T re- 
quested him, through his magnetiser, whom alone he heard, 
to visit, mentally, my house, which was nearly a mile off, 
and perfectly unknown to him. He said he would, and 
soon, when asked, began to describe the back drawing-room, 
in which he saw a sideboard with glasses, and on the side- 
board a singular apparatus, which he described. In fact, 
this room, although I had not told him so, is used as a din- 
ing-room, and has a sideboard, on which stood at that 
moment glasses, and an apparatus for preparing soda water, 
which I had brought from Germany, and which was then 
quite new in Edinburgh. I then requested him, after he 
had mentioned some other details, to look at the front room, 
in which he described two small portraits, most of the fur- 
niture, mirrors, ornamental glasses, and the position of the 
piano-forte, which is very unusual. Being asked whom he 
saw in the room, he replied, only a lady, whose dress he 
described, and a boy. This I ascertained to be correct at 
that time. As it was just possible that this might have 
been done by thought-reading, although I could detect no 
trace of any sympathy with me, I then requested Dr. Schmitz 
to go into another room, and there to do whatever he pleased, 
while we should try whether the boy should see what he did. 
Dr. S. took with him his son, and when the sleeper was 
27 



314 DIRECT CLAIRVOYANCE 

asked to look into the other room, he began to laugh, and 
said that Theodore (Dr. S.'s son) was a funny boy, and was 
gesticulating in a particular way with his arms, while Dr. 
S. stood looking on. He then said that Theodore had left 
the room, and after a while that he had returned; then 
that Theodore was jumping about ; and being asked about 
Dr. S., declined more than once to say, not liking to tell, 
as he said, but at last told us, that he also was jumping 
about. Lastly, he said Dr. S. was beating his son, not 
with a stick, although he saw a stick in the room, but with 
a roll of paper. All this did not occupy more than seven 
or eight minutes, and when Dr. S. returned, I at once gave 
him the above account of his proceedings, which he, much 
astonished, declared to be correct in every particular. Here, 
thought-reading was absolutely impossible ; for neither I, 
nor any one present, had the least idea of what Dr. S. was 
to do, nor indeed had Dr. S. himself, till I suggested it, 
known that such an experiment was to be tried. I am, 
therefore, perfectly satisfied, that the boy actually saw what 
was done ; for to suppose that he had guessed it, appears 
to me a great deal more wonderful ; besides, his manner 
was entirely that of one describing what he saw. I regret 
much, that I was unable to pursue further the investigation 
of this case, which would no doubt have presented many 
interesting phenomena. I have mentioned it as a recent 
one, and because Dr. Schmitz and others saw the facts and 
can attest them. 

Case 36. — After I had produced in Mr. D. (Case 1, and 
others) the deep mesmeric sleep, I found that he exhibited 
some forms of clairvoyance. Thus he often saw light 
flowing from my fingers, when my hand was held over his 
head, and his eyes were close shut. He also saw, in the 
same position, light from magnets, from a loadstone, and 
from many crystals. But the form in which clairvoyance 
was best developed in him, at least when I made these ex- 
periments, was that of visiting and describing distant places, 
both known and unknown to him. Having observed that 
he spontaneously described places which he said were quite 
unknown to him, I first tried him by asking him to look at 
my house in Prince's Street, he being then in the south side 
of the town ; and although at first he saw it but dimly, 
owing to a thick mist of which he complained much, by de- 



IN THE MAGNETIC SLEEP. 315 

grees he came to see and describe it very plainly. He had 
several times been in the house, and might therefore be able 
to recall it in a general way ; but I found that he could de- 
scribe in detail any room, or part of a room, to which I 
directed his attention, and among these, some rooms that 
he had never seen. I next asked him to tell me whether 
he saw people in the rooms ? Sometimes he did, at other 
times he said no one was there ; and on some occasions, 
when he counted several persons, I found that, as near as 
the time could be ascertained, he was correct as to the num- 
ber of visitors. I then desired him to look at a house, 
about two miles out of town, which he did not know, and 
which I did not farther describe. He found it, and said 
that it was of a peculiar form, describing especially the roof, 
which is unusual. He told me that he did so, because he 
saw it, as it were, from above. He said it stood in a gar- 
den, and had trees about it, but was not, at that time, able 
to see any persons about it, or to see the interior. — My 
next experiment was to ask him to visit Aix-la-Chapelle, 
which is quite unknown to him, but which I know well. 
My mind turned to the great place, in which is the Elisen- 
brunnen ; but, to my surprise, he not only readily went to Aix, 
but began to describe what he saw so clearly, that I at once 
recognised the boulevard, or promenade, outside the walls. 
This showed that he was not reading my present thoughts. 
When I asked, how he knew that the place he saw was 
that I named, he said, that an internal sense, like that 
which distinguishes right from wrong, told him that the first 
place he saw was the right one ; but on subsequent occa- 
sions, he added, that sometimes another place would appear 
first, but that the same intuitive sense told him that it was 
not the place wanted. I now requested him to go to the 
great place, which, as I have stated in Part I., he accu- 
rately described, quite as accurately as I could have done. 
He also saw people moving in the place or streets, but every 
time he saw different people. He noticed soldiers in various 
uniforms, and said that some wore cloth caps, others hel- 
mets, such as he had never seen, but which he described 
correctly (the Prussian Helms or Pickelhauben.) He ob- 
served that many men wore beards and moustaches, which 
amused him much, and he described several fashions of 
beard that he saw. I asked him to look for several persons, 



316 MENTAL TRAVELLING. 

known to me, naming them, and he found and described 
some of them, but not others. One gentleman, whom I 
thought of as sitting in his own room, he saw walking on 
the boulevard with another, an additional proof that he was 
not reading my thoughts. This gentleman, he said, wears 
neither beard nor moustaches, which is true. He saw, in a 
hotel, dinner going on at 2 p. m., and at our dinner-hour, 
without any questions being put in either case, he spoke of 
the saloon of the hotel as empty, and the tables uncovered. 
After trying him many times with Aix, I asked him to go to 
Cologne, and he soon told me that he saw it in a bird's-eye 
view, or as from a balloon, in which way I certainly never saw 
it, nor thought of it. He noticed the river, the bridge of 
boats, many spires, and one very large building, much 
higher than the rest. I begged him to go nearer to it, and 
he soon spoke of being in a street, where his attention was 
arrested by a fat, jolly-looking old boy, as he called him, 
standing in the door-way of his shop, without a hat, and 
with an apron on. At my request, he described the exte- 
rior of the large building, at one part, where he spoke of 
very tall windows, the shape of which he drew, and of but- 
tresses and pinnacles between them. As he was much 
struck with the great size of the building, I conclude it was 
the Dom, and that he first saw the outside of the choir, 
and eastward part. He afterwards noticed a projecting 
part (transept), very high, with high windows, and going, 
at my request, to the west end, entered, and saw inside 
many pillars and arches, and people kneeling on the floor ; 
but, whether within or without, he could not see the roof, 
which a mist concealed from him. In the street he saw 
people, and remarked many soldiers. I next asked him to 
visit Bonn, when he found it, and gave me a most perfect 
description of it, as seen from the heights to the west, from a 
point on which he declared he was looking at the town. I 
need not go into detail, but his descriptions of the situation 
of the town, of the heights to the westward, of the course 
of the river, and of the heights on the east or right bank, 
were most graphic and accurate. In all these cases, he had 
the greatest pleasure in contemplating the new scenes, and 
particularly admired Bonn and the environs of Aix. But 
in every instance he called north south, and east west ; 
telling me, for example, that the Rhine ran southwards, and 



SINGULAR VISIONS. 317 

that both Cologne and Bonn were on the east side, or what 
is actually the right bank of the river. I have no doubt 
he would have told me that the sun at noon was due north, 
had I tried him. He certainly persisted uniformly in the 
directions he gave for the position of places, and when I 
caused him to look, in his sleep, at Prince's Street, from a 
distance, declared that the street looked to the north, and 
that the Castle lay to the north of Prince's Street. 
Making the necessary corrections, his local descriptions, in 
these and in many other instances, which I cannot here 
detail, were not only correct, but strikingly graphic, and I 
could never discover the slightest reason to suppose that he 
was reading my thoughts ; indeed, he very often spoke of 
one place or thing, when I was thinking of, and had per- 
haps asked him about another ; and when he saw, as gene- 
rally happened after a short interval, the particular house 
or street I asked for, he was sure to observe something not 
at all in my mind. Thus, in Cologne, he frequently re- 
turned to the street he had first seen, and very often saw 
the " jolly old boy," of whom I had no idea ; but when I 
asked for him, it would frequently happen that he was 
not visible. Nor did that person always appear in the same 
way, for he sometimes stood in the doorway, at other times 
in the shop ; sometimes with an apron on, at others without 
it. He declared that he should know this man anywhere, 
and spontaneously added, that, in spite of his jolly appear- 
ance, he disliked him ; why, he could not tell. 

I shall here mention some very singular facts that pre- 
sented themselves in this case, in which Mr. D. saw and 
described, precisely as above, places quite unknown either 
to himself or to me. I had in my possession a so-called 
magic crystal, apparently of glass, certainly of some anti- 
quity, but the history of which is unknown. I wished to 
try whether Mr. D. would feel any action from it while in 
the sleep, he being at that time singularly sensitive. I 
therefore placed it in his right hand, when he felt a strong 
current of cold up his arm; and, in the other hand, a strong 
current of heat. When I asked him if he saw it, his eyes 
being fast shut, he said it shone so brightly as to dazzle his 
eyes and begged me to remove it. I did so, but found, in 
holding the glass over his head, that he saw it as well as 
before. Next day he was either in a different state, or at 

27* 



318 CLAIRVOYANT VISIONS 

all events less sensitive, and saw it, his eyes being closed, 
whether in his hand, or held by me near his head, out of 
reach even of the open eyes. But this time it did not daz- 
zle him, and he looked at it with extreme pleasure. He 
described it as traversed in every direction by broad bands 
of light, each of the bands exhibiting all the rainbow colors 
in great beauty. When held in his left hand, it caused a 
strong, but agreeable warm sensation, and appeared to pro- 
duce a deeper sleep. All at once he said, spontaneously, 
"I see a man in a very strange dress." As it occurred to 
me that Mr. D. might be seeing some one in whose posses- 
sion the crystal had been, or who was somehow connected 
with it, I encouraged Mr. D. to tell me all he saw; and as 
I found that on subsequent occasions he saw the same per- 
son, I very often got him to tell what the man was doing, 
and in fact for a time to trace his motions, day after day. 
I shall give the results as briefly as possible. 

Mr. D. first found himself after apparently traversing a 
large space, and seeing confusedly and dimly various objects 
(during the very short time that elapsed after the crystal was 
placed in his hand, before he began to speak,) in a road on one 
side of which ran a rapid and rough river, under high, perpen- 
dicular rocks, while on the other side of the road were also 
rocks, not so high. On the road walked a man above the 
middle height, between 40 and 50 years of age, very healthy 
and vigorous, with dark complexion, long face, prominent 
features, like a Spaniard, Italian, or Jew, black hair, long 
blackbeard, dressed in a black jacket, fur vest, and black knee- 
breeches, striped stockings, and short boots folded over and 
furred at the top, below the calf of the leg. He had a belt 
or girdle round his middle, to which hung something, not a 
sword or dagger. Over all he w r ore a large cloak, which 
was open so as to allow his dress to be seen. His hat was 
a tall and conical cap of cloth, with fur round the lower 
part of it, and a broad brim, and there was a feather in it. 
In his hand he carried a long staff, taller than himself, with 
a crook at the upper end, and before him ran three or four 
sheep on the road. Mr. D. thought the shepherd's crook 
and the sheep so incongruous with the rest of the costume, 
which was handsome, and of fine materials, that he often 
expressed his surprise at these things. He followed the 
man along the road to an inn, into which he entered, and 



OF A SINGULAR KIND. 319 

had refreshment in a public room, where some men, appa- 
rently peasants, were sitting. By them and by the landlord 
he was respectfully received. The inn did not look like one 
of this country, nor were the peasants English. Their dress 
was in form like that of the man, but of very coarse blue 
cloth, and they had cloaks of "sheepskin. When Mr. D. next 
day saw the man, he was again walking on a road, but with- 
out the sheep or crook, and wrapped in his cloak. The 
road was now in a wild, bare country, in which, by and bye, 
stunted trees appeared, along the course of the river. The 
valley gradually widened, the mountains receding on each 
side, and trees and cultivated fields appeared. The road 
led to a town, lying near the foot of the hills on one side, 
and before entering the town, crosses the river by a bridge 
of many arches, elevated in the middle. The man first seen 
was apparently a mile or two from the town on the third or 
fourth occasion on which he was seen, and walking towards 
it. On the road were many peasants, some carrying bas- 
kets with eggs, &c, to the town, some with carts. The 
town, which appeared larger than Perth, lies on a slope 
rising up from the river to the hills behind ; it is triangular 
in shape, the base of the triangle resting on the hills, the 
apex on the bridge. There are towers and spires in it, but 
Mr. D. could see no wall around it. The carts and wagons 
on the road are not like ours. As Mr. D. could not give 
a name to the man, and yet wished to have a name for him, 
and as he seemed to be a foreigner, and either a Jew, Ita- 
lian, or Spaniard, in appearance, I suggested that he might be 
called Rafael, which name Mr. D. at once adopted. We shall 
call him R. Next day, Mr. D. found R. in a house in the 
main street of the town, which rises straight from the bridge, 
up a pretty steep slope. In passing the bridge, Mr. D. ob- 
served, first, that the water was very muddy ; secondly, that 
towards the end of the bridge, next the town, where he con- 
jectures there is a gate or archway, there appeared to him 
a dark space, in which he could see nothing, and he could 
only see clear again when he had reached to a point in the 
street, three or four houses from the bridge. This I can- 
not explain, but the same blank place has invariably pre- 
sented itself. The house in which R. was now seen was a 
shop, his own apparently. A woman, much resembling 
him ? was there with him ; Mr, D. thought she was a sister. 



320 SINGULAR VISIONS 

She seemed to listen attentively to what he told of his travels, 
as far as Mr. D. could judge. The shop appeared to be 
one in which are sold curiosities and second-hand jewellery; 
there were chains, crosses, &c, of gold and silver; but they 
did not look new. When describing these things for the 
first time, Mr. D. expressed much surprise, and some un- 
easiness, at his being, as he seemed to be, outside of the 
town, looking at the bridge, &c, and at the same time being 
able to see the inside of R.'s shop, without going there. 
Afterwards, he got accustomed to this, and made no obser- 
vations about it. He saw R. and the woman at a meal in 
a small room behind the shop. The furniture was coarse 
and plain, the fare also plain. They did not say grace be- 
fore meat. Their drink seemed to be wine. The woman 
in the shop took down from a shelf what seemed to be a 
small brass globe, to show to R. In the fire-place was a wood 
fire, burning on dogs, and some billets lay on the floor. 
Another day, he saw R. in his shop, and a ragged man of- 
fering something for sale in a small box, which R. would 
not buy. The main street, leading up hill from the bridge, 
has side pavements. It is crossed, half-way up, by another 
street. At one of the corners of this crossing, he saw a 
dragoon standing, with a green, long-tailed coat, red facings, 
blue trousers with red stripe, cloth cap, with a shade in 
front, green, with a band of rfcd, and a red tuft in the top ; 
long sword, with long belt, boots and spurs. Saw many 
names on the shops or sign-boards in the street; but could 
not read them, the letters being unknown to him, except on 
one large house, like a hotel, at the corner of the cross 
street already mentioned, on which he spelt out the name 
Schultz, the only one that he could read of all that he saw. 
Another time R. was not in his shop, but after seeking for 
him, he found him in a hut, in a mountainous district, along 
with a number of men. As some of these men were dressed 
as he had described the peasants whom he had seen, in 
coarse jackets and wide trousers, with sheepskin cloaks, 
while others wore a dress which seemed to him more Turk- 
ish than European, having cloths rolled round their heads, 
and very wide trousers, and wearing long beards, he spon- 
taneously said that he believed the hut to be on the frontier 
between two countries. 

I cannot help regarding these visions as very interesting. 



IN THE MAGNETIC SLEEP. 321 

Supposing them to have been mere dreams, they are dreams 
of a very singular kind. Mr. D., from the time he first saw 
R., was requested to do so on not less than twenty different 
occasions. I have only given a selection of a few of the 
more characteristic observations ; had I given the whole, 
they would have filled many pages. Now, from the first 
observation to the last, he not only never saw the same 
vision twice, but as he was at that time magnetised daily, 
and sometimes twice a day, there was an unmistakeable 
connection between the separate visions. Thus, one day 
he saw R. in a wild country, travelling down the course of 
the river, by which the road ran. Next day, he was seen 
in a lower part of the valley, where the country became 
more cultivated ; on the third day, he was observed ap- 
proaching a considerable town, and on the fourth was found 
in his own home in that town. For about three weeks or 
a month, he was seen every day, often travelling on foot, at 
other times at home. The various localities were described 
with singular minuteness. Indeed, the town was so de- 
scribed, and that on many different occasions, that I am sure 
I should know it, were I ever to see it. It is obviously not 
in England, and from the costumes, and the often reiterated 
statement, that all the names on shops and signs, with one 
exception, a German name, were in strange letters, I con- 
clude that it is not in Germany, but in the east of Europe, 
possibly near the frontiers of Russia and Turkey, or Tran- 
sylvania and Turkey. It is possible that some reader may 
be able to specify the town. It is very difficult to see why 
Mr. D. should have seen these visions so clearly and so 
persistently; but I cannot help thinking that the crystal, 
which at first seemed to call them up, had really some con- 
nection with them. Mr. D. himself, in the sleep, thought 
that the crystal had at one time belonged to R., and we 
may suppose it to have acted on Mr. D. as R.'s handwriting 
might have done on some subjects. Supposing this to be 
the case, were the visions concerned with present or with 
past events? Mr. D. always said, that it appeared to him 
as if w T hat he saw were then actually passing. But if the 
visions, as is possible, referred to past events, it is truly re- 
markable that the whole succession of these events should 
have been traced for about a month. 

But this was not the only instance in which Mr. D. sur- 



322 OTHER VISIONS OF 



prised me by very distinct visions of distant and unknown 
places. One day, while observing the town above mention- 
ed, and describing it spontaneously, as I always encouraged 
him to do, he became suddenly silent, and after a short 
time told me, that he was travelling through air or space, 
to a great distance. I soon discovered that he had spon- 
taneously passed into a higher stage ; perhaps in conse- 
quence of the crystal, which he held in his hand, acting more 
powerfully than usual, he being then in a very susceptible, 
state. As soon as he had come to the end of his journey, 
he began to describe a beautiful garden, with avenues of 
fine trees, of which he drew a plan. It was near a town, in 
which he could see no spires. At the end of one principal 
avenue was a round pond, or fountain, enclosed in stone and 
gravel, with two jets of water, and close to this fountain or 
pond stood an elderly man, in what, from the description, 
seemed to be the ancient Greek dress, the head bare, long 
beard, flowing white robes, and bare feet in sandals. He 
was surrounded by about a dozen younger men, most of 
whom had black beards, and wore the same dress as their 
master. He seemed to be occupied in teaching them, and 
after a time, the lecture or conversation being finished, they 
all left the fountain, by twos and threes, and slowly walked 
along the avenues. Looking down these avenues, Mr. D. 
saw glimpses of the neighboring hills, and of the town, 
which lay nearer to the garden than the hills, although 
still at some distance. This singular vision also recurred 
spontaneously two or three times ; that is, Mr. D. saw the 
gardens and the localities, but not again the group at the 
fountain, although other persons were seen enjoying the 
walks, and on one occasion two ladies were noticed, whose 
dress seemed also to be ancient Greek. But what parti- 
cularly struck me was, that this vision only occurred in a 
peculiar state, of which the consciousness was quite distinct, 
not only from his ordinary consciousness, but also from that 
in which he saw the former vision of the town, and of R. 
This peculiar, third consciousness was interpolated, and he 
always slept out his full time, as previously fixed, in the 
more common magnetic state, while the time spent in this 
new state was added. On returning, which he always did 
of himself, to his first magnetic state, he had not the slight- 
est recollection of the new vision, nor did he ever remem- 






THE SAME SUBJECT. 323 

ber it, except when he came into the new state. It cer- 
tainly seems probable that, in that new state, he was trans- 
ported to distant times and past events. 

Another time he spontaneously passed into a similar state, 
but which I think had a fourth consciousness of its own, 
divided from all the others. He told me one day that he 
was travelling through the air or through space, as before, 
but all at once began to appear uneasy and alarmed, and told 
me he had fallen into the water, and would be drowned, if 
I did not help him. I commanded him to get out of the 
water, and after much actual exertion and alarm, he said he 
had got to the bank. He then said he had fallen into a 
river in Caffraria, at the place where a friend of his was 
born. But what was very remarkable was, that he spoke 
of the river, the fields, farm-houses, people, animals, and 
woods, as if perfectly familiar to him, and told me he had 
spent many years as a boy in that country, whereas he has 
never been out of Scotland. Moreover, he insisted he was 
not asleep, but wide awake, and although his eyes were 
closed, said they were open, and complained that I was 
making a fool of him, when I said he was asleep. He was 
somewhat puzzled to explain how I, whom he knew to be in 
Edinburgh, could be conversing with him in Caffraria, as he 
declared he was; and he was still more puzzled when I asked 
him, how he had gone to that country, for he admitted he 
had never been on board a ship. But still he maintained 
that he was in Caffraria, and had long lived there, and that 
he knew every man and every animal at the farm he de- 
scribed. It was evident that he had heard of Caffraria from 
his friend ; but as he described all that he saw, precisely as 
a man would do who was looking at the place and the peo- 
ple, and as he maintained that all were familiar to him, I 
could hardly avoid supposing, that, his mind having been 
interested in what he had heard, he had, in some of his 
previous sleeps visited Caffraria by clairvoyance, without 
telling me of it at the time ; for it often happened, that he 
would sleep for an hour or half an hour without speaking ; 
that when he had spontaneously passed into that state on 
this occasion, he not only saw, but recognised as well known, 
and as seen in previous portions of that peculiar conscious- 
ness, the localities, persons, &c. whom he described. Cer- 
tainly his descriptions were such as to convey to me the 



324 VISIONS OF DISTANT PLACES 

impression that he actually saw these things as they exist. 
On two other occasions, he spontaneously got into the same 
state, and always then spoke as he had done the first time ; 
but he retained not a trace of recollection of this South 
African vision in any other state but that one. Nay, when 
I asked him about Caffraria in his ordinary magnetic sleep, 
he seemed not to understand me, and thought I was making 
fun of him when I asked whether he had ever been in 
Africa. 

In these three distinct kinds of vision, that of R., that of 
the Greek garden and philosopher, and that of Caffraria, it 
is hardly possible to verify the visions ; but when I reflect, 
that Mr. £>. was able, in a certain state, to see and describe 
accurately towns, such as Aix and Cologne, countries, and 
persons, at a great distance, and quite unknown to him, I am 
disposed to think that in these visions also he saw the real 
places actually before him. It would have been most inter- 
esting to have studied more minutely the powers exhibited, 
or which might have been developed, in this very interest- 
ing case; but, as I have mentioned, Mr. D., whose extreme 
susceptibility at that time may have depended on the very 
unsatisfactory state of his health, was taken ill, and con- 
fined to bed with an affection of the chest, for five or six 
weeks ; and when he had recovered, I found that his general 
health was far better than when he was first magnetised, but 
his extreme susceptibility was gone. I can still magnetise 
him, although with far more difficulty; and since his recovery, 
I have only once been able to get him to see the town for- 
merly described, and R. I intend, however, to pursue the 
investigation, and, perhaps, with patience, I may be able to 
bring him again into a state of decided and direct clairvoy- 
ance. Indeed, he several times told me, in the sleep, that 
he would acquire, after many operations, a high degree of 
lucidity, and as long as I was able to magnetise him before 
his illness, he did continue to improve in lucidity. 

Case 37. — Mr. T., formerly mentioned, occasionlly shewed, 
quite spontaneously, some degree of clairvoyance. Tims, 
one day he told me that he saw my carriage arriving in the 
court-yard of the University, which I did not believe, as it 
had been ordered an hour later. But he said he not only 
saw it, but saw also the servant coming up stairs to announce 
it ; and two minutes afterwards, the servant appeared, the 



IN THE MAGNETIC SLEEP. 325 

carriage having by mistake been brought an hour too soon. 
Another day, he spoke to me of seeing his uncle in Berwick- 
shire, and said that his uncle was then sending off a letter 
to him. He had no reason to expect a letter, as he told me ; 
on the contrary, he was at that time intending to write to 
his uncle. But with the first post from Berwickshire, the 
letter came. He several tims saw and described what was 
going on in my house, from the College, and although I 
could not in all instances verify his statements, yet on several 
occasions I was able to do so, and found him correct as to 
the number, dress, &c, of the persons he saw in my draw- 
ing-room, at certain times, the distance being certainly up- 
wards of a fourth of a mile in a straight line. One day he 
spontaneously visited Inchkeith and the lighthouse there, 
which he had never seen ; but I found on enquiry, that his 
description, which was very minute, was accurate, and it was 
certainly given as by one seeing what he describes. He got 
at last alarmed, not seeing how he was to get home again, 
for he said he saw no boat that could bring him away. An- 
other time, he of his own accord described very minutely a 
long avenue of fine trees, at the end of which was a large 
public building, and this appeared to be used as a barrack, 
for he saw lounging in front of it a number of cavalry of- 
ficers in an undress uniform, which, from his very detailed 
account of it, was not an English one, but seemed to corre- 
spond with that of a regiment of Prussian hussars, which I 
have since heard of, but had never seen. Why he should 
have seen this vision, I cannot conjecture, for I do not know 
of any such barrack as he described, and he could not there- 
fore have read it in my thoughts. In this case, I could not 
always, when putting him to sleep, get him into the clairvoy- 
ant state. His clairvoyance was generally spontaneous ; 
but sometimes I was able to get him to look where I wished, 
and he several times correctly told, at my request, what was 
doing in the room of a friend who lived at a distance of 
several hundred yards. He often told me that he saw places 
and persons very dimly, as if through a mist, like Mr. D. ? 
but I believe that, if I should be able to continue experi- 
ments with him for some time, he would gradually come to 
see more perfectly. 

Case 38. — This case I have on the authority of a lady, 
who had it from the parties. Mr. B., of the E. I. C. Civil 
28 



326 CASES OF CLAIRVOYANCE 

service, being at Calcutta, and wishing to hear about Mrs. 
B., then on her voyage to England, applied to a clairvoyant at 
Calcutta, who being put into the magnetic sleep, and asked 
where the ship " Queen" w T as, at that moment, answered, 
that she was off the Western Isles, and was then passing 
one of them, described as having a high peaked outline, re- 
sembling Madeira. The day, he said, was hazy and gloomy. 
Mr. B. asked him to enter Mrs. B.'s cabin, which he at 
first declined to do, for fear of intrusion, but finally agreed 
to do so, and said the cabin was in great confusion. Two 
ladies were sitting in it, conversing together, and his descrip- 
tion of Mrs. B. was so exact and graphic, that Mr. B. was 
much affected by it. Captain Macleod, of the Queen, after- 
wards compared the statement of the clairvoyant as to the 
position of the ship with his logbook, and found it perfectly 
correct. The Queen had left Calcutta on the 3d of Feb. 
1850, and having had an unusually long passage, did not 
reach England till the 6th of July. According to the 
average passage, she ought to have been in England when 
she w T as off the Western Isles. The clairvoyant had never 
seen Mrs. B., and it should be added, that a fellow passen- 
ger of that lady spoke from observation of the confused 
state in which her cabin usually was. 

Case 39. — We have already seen that Major Buckley 
often produces waking or conscious clairvoyance, but he is 
also very successful in producing clairvoyance in the magnetic 
sleep. The following case is extracted from a letter to me 
from Major B. A lady, who, after having been rendered 
clairvoyant in the sleep, could be rendered consciously clair- 
voyante, was found, in the sleep to be able to read mottoes, 
&c, not in Major B.'s possession, and at a considerable dis- 
tance. Another lady, having placed within a box, in her 
own drawing-room, a motto, requested Major B. to ask the 
clairvoyante to read it. This, while asleep, she did, she 
being in her own house, the motto in that of the lady, and 
the lady herself not being present. The motto was quite 
unknown to Major B. He then asked the clairvoyante 
to look into a shop of which he had heard, where mottoes 
were sold in nuts, but which neither he nor his subject had 
ever entered, and to tell him if she could perceive any new 
mottoes among those in the shop. She said she saw some 
new ones. "Many ? No, only about three in an ounce of 



IN THE MAGNETIC SLEEP. 327 

nuts. Are you quite sure they are new ? Quite. I see 
the one I have just read in the lady's house. Were I, said 
Major B., to buy an ounce there, should I have any new 
ones ? Yes, the one just mentioned would be among them. 
Will this happen, if I purchase one ounce only ? Yes. 
Mark them all before you bring them to me." Major B. 
left her asleep, went to the shop, purchased one ounce, 
eighteen nuts, marked them all with a file, and brought 
them to her. She instantly pointed to one, and directed 
him to open it. It contained the same words he had just 
before written down, and only two of the others contained 
new mottoes. Next day, Major B. called on that other 
lady, and saw the same motto taken from the box in which 
it had been put. 

Case 40. — A lady who could read in boxes while awake, 
being one day on her way with Major B., to leave a letter 
at the house of a professional singer, all at once exclaimed, 
" He has left his house, and the name-plate has been taken 
off the door." On arriving at the house, this was found 
correct. As the people of the house could not give the new 
address, Major B. put the lady to sleep, when she said, 
truly, that the singer now lived out of town, and intended 
to come in to his duty by omnibus. 

Case 41. — Miss G., a very intelligent young lady, was 
magnetised by Mr. Lewis, and became clairvoyante at the 
second trial. In this state, she went to see some near rela- 
tions in India, w T hom she found in a camp, and mentioned 
various details, which cannot yet be verified. Mr. Lewis, 
while she was asleep, told her that he would magnetise her 
next day from a distance, at one P. M., and that she must 
then go to sleep, and see him wherever he might be, so as 
to tell what he was doing. When awoke, she had not the 
slightest recollection of anything that had passed in her 
sleep, and she was not told of what Mr. Lewis had said. 
Next day, at one o'clock, while occupied in writing, she fell 
asleep, and after a time answered the questions of a gentle- 
man who w T atched the experiment, and from whom I have 
the details. She soon saw Mr. Lewis, in a room, the furni- 
ture of which she described, and she also said he was writ- 
ing at one time, but afterwards walked about the room, ges- 
ticulating strangely, and making ludicrous grimaces. Every 
thing that she said was correct, except that she took a tra- 



328 CASES OF CLAIRVOYANCE 

velling-desk for a large book, but could not say what book it 
was. Mr. Lewis was then in Dundee, the lady in Stirling. 
He was in the room she described, and had made gesticula- 
tions and grimaces after he thought she must be asleep, 
with the wish that she should repeat these gestures, which 
however she did not do. But at that distance she saw his 
gestures, and had been already put to sleep, whether by his 
direct influence at the time, or in consequence of the com- 
mand given in the sleep the day before, of which, in her 
waking state, she knew nothing. And this was only the 
third time she had been magnetised. 

Case 42. — Mr. J. D., a plate layer from Annan, was, as 
I have mentioned in Part I., put to sleep by Mr. Lewis in 
my presence, and in that of several gentlemen. He ex- 
hibited beautifully the phenomena of suggestion in the sleep, 
as also detailed, Case 24; but after a time he spontaneous- 
ly passed into the clairvoyant state, in which I examined 
him, he being transferred to me by Mr. Lewis, when he heard 
my voice, but not that of Mr. L., till I retransf erred him. 
I have mentioned in Part I. that I asked him to find and 
describe my house, which he did most accurately, although 
he had only that day come to Edinburgh, and did not know 
me. In particular, after describing the street-door and 
steps, the lobby, the staircase, and the drawing rooms, he 
said he saw a lady sitting in a particular chair, reading a 
new book. On returning home I found that Mrs Gr. had at 
that time been sitting in the chair alluded to, which she hard- 
ly ever does, reading a new book, which had been, sent to her 
just before, but of which I knew nothing. Besides, I found 
that J. D. did not, in describing the house, read my thoughts 
at all, but dwelt on many things, strange to him, which I 
never thought of, and omitted others which I did think of, 
and wished him to notice. I have now to add, that when 
he first said he would look for my house, and I did not even 
tell him the street in which it is, he very soon spoke of being 
in the Royal Infirmary. I found it impossible to divert him 
from this, till he had described what he saw. I cannot dis- 
cover why his mind should have been led to the Infirmary, 
unless it be that it had been pointed out to him in the course 
of the day. But he had never entered it ; yet he saw the 
interior, described two men putting a third into a bath on 
the ground floor, and afterwards, going up stairs, entered a 



IN THE MAGNETIC SLEEP. 329 

ward, on the door of which he saw No. IV., counted the beds 
on one side of it, noticed the closets at the ends of the ward, 
and said that most of the patients were in bed, but that one 
man was smoking " up the lum." After leaving the Infirm- 
ary, he proceeded to look for my house, and very soon 
found it to be in Prince's Street. 

On this occasion J. D. became only accidentally clair- 
voyant, and was not very highly lucid ; but on other occa- 
sions Mr. Lewis found him to possess a rare degree of lucid- 
ity. At Mr. L.'s request, he once mentally visited St. John's, 
New Brunswick ; told Mr. L. that his mother, of whom he, 
Mr. L., had hot heard for years, was alive and in that place. 
Also than on a certain day Mr. Lewis would receive a letter 
from that quarter, on business of importance, which was 
now on the way ; that it was w T ritten by an agent or execu- 
tor, who was then ill ; that the mother of Mr. L. would also 
soon receive a letter which Mr. L. had written ; and he 
added private information of much importance to Mr. Lewis. 
The whole proved quite correct. Mr. L. received the letter 
announced, from an agent, whose illness and death was men- 
tioned in a later communication. Mr. L.'s mother proved 
to be living there, and she also received the last letter he 
had written, without a knowledge of her being alive, or of 
her address. I have since heard of various other instances 
of J. D.'s great lucidity. 

Case 43. — L. W., a young woman, aged 25, of fair com- 
plexion and nervous temperament, servant in the family of 
Dr. M'Culloch, Dumfries, of excellent character in every 
respect, was magnetised by Mr. Lewis, and became clair- 
voyante. On the 6th of October 1850, she was put to sleep 
in the evening, and asked to visit a school for young ladies 
at Boulogne, where Dr. M.'s daughter had been for several 
months, and then was. She said she saw her going to bed 
at a quarter to nine, and hanging up a brown dress which 
she had worn that day, because the day was wintry. It 
was supposed that this was a mistake, as that dress was not 
to be worn till winter. She said that the young lady was 
to return home in June or July, and afterwards to go back 
to Boulogne. This also was supposed to be quite wrong. 
She described minutely the person of the English teacher, 
and said there were 25 scholars, a point not known to any 
one in Dumfries. She said they dined at half-past one, and 

28* 



830 CASES OF CLAIRVOYANCE 

drank no wine, but some light stuff out of a very large flask 
of a peculiar shape. She also described the bed and other 
furniture of the young ladies' bed-room, particularly a small 
carpet, of a stair-carpet pattern, a deep red color, much 
faded. Miss M. heard from her mother last week, on the 
4th, she thought, and intends to write home on Wednesday 
the 9th. She also described a lady whom she took for the 
school-mistress, as a stout woman, dressed in black satin, 
wearing a cap, and with black hair. Miss M. generally 
sleeps alone, but sometimes one of the young ladies sleeps 
with her. One of the French teachers sometimes instructs 
in music. Miss M. was at the English church in the fore- 
noon, but not in the afternoon, because it was rather wet. 
The text of the sermon was from Luke xvii. 

On enquiry, almost the w r hole of these statements were 
found correct. A few were wrong. Thus, Miss M. did go 
to church in the afternoon also, and the text in the forenoon 
was not from Luke. The lady L. W. took for the school- 
mistress was a friend on a visit to her. But in almost every 
thing else, L. W. was right. Thus, Miss M. had worn the 
brown dress that day, for the first time, sooner than she had 
intended, because the day was very cold. She had gone to 
bed that evening at a quarter to nine, and had hung the 
dress in her cupboard. Only the day before she and the 
other young ladies had been unexpectedly told that they 
would have to return home about the end of June or begin- 
ning of July, because the mistress was obliged to go at that 
time to Germany, which was entirely unknown to and unex- 
pected by Miss M.'s family. The person of the English 
teacher was correctly described. The description of the 
dinner was generally correct, and the water flask was 
exactly as L. W. said. The furniture of the bed-room was 
also correctly described, as was the pattern and color of 
the carpet before the bed. Miss M. did intend to write, 
and did write on the 9th. One of the young ladies some- 
times slept with her ; and one of the French teachers occa- 
sionally gave instructions in music. The number of scho- 
lars, which had varied much, was then 25. 

Now it is impossible that these things could have been 
suggested to L. W., because no one in Dumfries knew thern, 
and several of them, such as the unexpected return of Miss 
M., were quite opposed to what her parents understood, and 



IN THE MAGNETIC SLEEP. 331 

had only then become known to herself. The girl, moreover, 
spoke and acted as if looking at what she described, and it 
cannot I think, be doubted that, by some means she did see 
it. The case is remarkable also because the girl mentioned 
correctly various points, which cannot here be given, as to 
what passed in the mind of Miss M., and because there was 
some tendency to prevision of future events, as in regard to 
her writing on the 9th, and her return at a later period. 

Case 44. — E., the clairvoyante of Dr. Haddock, for- 
merly mentioned, is often clairvoyante without any means 
of communication, such as writing, &c, and sometimes spon- 
taneously passes into a lucid state, without any artificial 
process. One day lately, Dr. EL received a letter, the 
writing of the address of which he did not recognise. E. 
requested him not to open it, till she had told him of a 
dream (that is, an act of spontaneous clairvoyance,) she had 
had about it. She had seen, as it were, the form of its 
contents, but it had not appeared to her open. She said 
there were two sheets in it, one of which had a piece cut 
off, and a plain piece of paper, apparently that cut off, was 
also in the envelope. In connection with the letter she saw 
a man, and a funeral. On opening the letter, Dr. H. found 
every thing just as E. had described, and the first sentence 
referred to the death of a gentleman. — This case I consider 
very interesting, as showing, how true dreams, as this was, 
are, in all probability, very often acts of clairvoyance. It 
is remarkable also, because E., before the letter was opened, 
not only described its form, &c, but had ideas of death and 
a funeral connected with it, which ideas were in the mind 
of the writer when she began her letter. But the writer 
and E. were 200 miles apart. Whatever may have been 
the ultimate result, it appears that E. had found the trace 
of all the ideas concerning the letter in the writer's mind, 
at that great distance, and had then followed them up for 
herself. 

It would be tedious here to go into detail; but I may 
briefly mention, that E., in the magnetic sleep, as I saw 
more than once, could see perfectly what passed behind her, 
her eyes being closed ; or any thing placed in such a posi- 
tion, that, had her eyes been open, she could not have seen 
it ; she could also see very often all that passed outside of 
the door, and when I was there, told us how many of the 



832 KEV. A. gilmour's case. 

servants of the hotel were listening at the door, in hopes of 
hearing wonders ; she would also often tell what was doing 
in the room above or below her. In short, she frequently 
exhibited direct clairvoyance in every form, not only in 
those just mentioned, but also in that of seeing prints or 
pictures shut up in boxes. Besides seeing various instances 
of direct clairvoyance, I was able to satisfy myself that Dr. 
Haddock's experiments were made with the greatest care 
and judgment ; that he was particularly well acquainted 
with the various causes of error and confusion, very careful 
to avoid these, and that in short his accounts of such ex- 
experiments as I had not seen were entirely trustworthy. I 
shall have occasion again to return to this case. 

Case 45. — The next case is one which I regard as par- 
ticularly valuable, because the observer, in whose words I 
shall give it, had never seen any magnetic experiments what- 
ever, and had only read a few works on the subject, when he 
resolved to try for himself, and succeeded, in the first case, 
in producing, not only the magnetic sleep, but also clairvoy- 
ance. He is the Rev. A. Gilmour, a highly respected 
clergyman, residing in Greenock, and well known to be a 
very able and highly accomplished gentleman. At my re- 
quest, he wrote the following letter, which I give without 
abridgement, because it is an excellent example of what may 
be done by any of us, if we only take the trouble to experi- 
ment for ourselves. It will be seen also that this case illus- 
trates many other phenomena, besides direct clairvoyance, 
such as sympathy and community of sensations. And I may 
here add, that if my space permitted, I could have published 
several similar accounts, of the results obtained by various 
ladies and gentlemen of my acquaintance. As that cannot 
be done in this work, I must content myself with giving Mr. 
Gilmour's letter as a type of a numerous class of communi- 
cations, and reminding you that many have been equally or 
even more successful, whose observations have never been 
published, and that the results of these numerous private 
experiments entirely confirm, as far as they go, the state- 
ments of professed magnetisers, and the multitudes of pub- 
lished cases to be found in the Zoist, and in numerous French 
and German periodicals devoted to magnetism. 



REV. A. GILMOUR'S LETTER. 333 

"My Dear Dr. Gregory, 

"I had read a good deal about Animal Magnet- 
ism in the spring of 1843, but I had never seen any person 
put under its influence. The Eev. Mr. Townsend's works 
were my text-book upon the subject. The whole seemed to me 
to be a mystery, yet I felt that I was not warranted in re- 
jecting the testimony of upright and honorable men, merely 
because I could not understand the subject in question. 

"I resolved to make experiments for myself, following the 
directions of the Kev. Mr. Townsend. I asked one of my 
servants, V. E., May 27, 1843, if she was willing to be 
mesmerised ; she consented. Her temperament is nervous, 
bilious, dark hair and eyes, pulse 80 and small,* age 18, 
person thin and spare. I gazed steadily for about seven 
minutes upon the pupil of her right eye, directing her to 
look fixedly into mine. This I continued to do for about 
fourteen minutes, and was about to give it up, when she told 
me that she felt very strangely. I should have mentioned 
that she had never heard of mesmerism before this. On get- 
ting the hint that she felt very strangely, I persevered for 
ten minutes longer, when her eyes gently closed, and she 
was fast asleep. 

" She appeared to be agitated; her hands and arms moved 
as if under the influence of irregular nervous twitches. Her 
head kept up a kind of rocking motion, and on being asked 
how she felt, answered 'very funny.' I made a few reverse 
passes, when she said that she felt very happy. I kept her 
in this state for about forty-five minutes I tried to affect 
her phrenological developments, but could not. I tickled her 
nose and upper lip with a feather, but she was quite insensi- 
ble to it. I also tried to render the arm cataleptic, but could 
not. I then demesmerised her, when she knew nothing of 
all that had taken place. I tried her with the feather, but 
she shrunk from the slightest touch. This was my first suc- 
cessful trial. 

" After this I mesmerised her every night. She became 
more and more susceptible, and my power seemed to increase 
in proportion as it was exercised. At last I could throw her 
into the mesmeric sleep in 40 seconds. She is able to tell 

* The pulse invariably lessened and softened under the mesmeric 
influence. 



334 REV. A. gilmour's account 

what I taste, such as soda, salt, sugar, milk, water, &c, 
though not in the same room with me. When my foot is 
pricked, or my hair pulled, or any part of my person pinched, 
she feels it, and describes it, unerringly. 

" August 7th. — I found her in a state of Clairvoyance. 
She went to my mother's, on being requested ; described her 
cottage, her personal appearance, and her dress, with perfect 
accuracy. 

" When in this state, I went into different rooms, leaving 
her in my study ; and forming a strong wish that she should 
rise and come to me, she invariably did so. I also went into 
the garden, and on wishing her to come to me, she instantly 
did so, always proceeding in a direct line, slowly, but accu- 
rately. I observed that, as she came to me on such occa- 
sions, her two hands were slightly extended, and when they 
touched mine, it was with a sudden slightly jerking motion, 
the same as when a needle touches the magnet. 

" Without giving you an historical detail of my proceed- 
ings, I may here mention that, on the 8th of March 1844, 
one of our most intelligent physicians, his sister, two ladies, 
and one of our magistrates, dined with me, when we had a 
mesmeric seance. We requested her to visit the house of 
Mrs. P., one of the ladies present. This house was in 
Greenock, distant from my cottage about a mile and a quar- 
ter. She saw her servant in the kitchen, but said that 
another woman was with her. On being pressed to look 

earnestly at the woman, she said it was C M . 

This, Mrs. P. declared to be true. We then asked her to 
see if any person was in Mrs. P.'s parlor, when she said that 
Miss Laing wans there, a young lady from Edinburgh, who 
was boarding with Mrs. P. at the time ; that she was sitting 
on the sofa ; that she was crying, and that a letter was in 
her hand. On the party breaking up, I walked into Gree- 
nock with the ladies and gentlemen, in order to see if she 
was right about Miss L. It was true. Miss L. had received 
a letter by that evening's post from her father in Edinburgh, 
stating that her mother was not expected to live, and re- 
questing her to come home by the first train in the morning. 

" September 2d. — I had made her follow the ship i Ellen' 
of Glasgow, Captain P., on a voyage from Glasgow to Ich- 
aboe, which was towed down. the Clyde with the ship 'Chusan' 
on the 28th of August. She saw the Chusan lying becalmed 



OF A CASE OF CLAIRVOYANCE. 335 

the same evening, about seven miles down the river, but 
could nowhere see the Ellen. On being pressed to look out 
for her, she discovered her much farther down, a small boat 
at her stern, and the Captain and a little man in the cabin 
taking their grog. A few days after, the pilot called, when 
she said, (on being mesmerised,) that was the man who was 
in the cabin with Captain P. The pilot stated that the 
steamboat threw off the Chusan opposite the Clock Light- 
house ; but that Captain P. had made them tow the Ellen 
eight or ten miles farther down the frith. This harmonises 
with what she saw. On the 2nd September she saw the 
Ellen in full sail, the sea a little rough, Captain P. in bed, 
and the mate on the quarter-deck. She is sure the ship is 
past Ireland, for there is no land to be seen ahead of her ; 
but she cannot discover any more than one dog on board, 
there being two when the Ellen sailed. On Captain P.'s 
return from Ichaboe, I obtained the log of his voyage, which 
is still in my possession. The little dog had become so ill 
that it was thrown overboard in the Channel, and at the 
above date the Ellen was by observation 53.25 north lati- 
tude, 17.41 west longitude, which you will see carries her 
far beyond Ireland. 

"December 25. — J. S., Esq., spending the evening with 
me, was anxious to test her clairvoyance accurately. She 
visited, at his request, his breakfast parlor at home, said 
that his father was reading Blackwood's Magazine, in his 
easy chair by the fire; described the room with perfect 
accuracy, though, I need scarcely say, she had never been 
in it in her life ; described the gaselier, and the number of 
burners lighted, and mentioned what Mrs. Scott was doing. 
Some of these statements, he felt perfectly sure, were incor- 
rect; but, on going home, he found that she had been 
minutely accurate. On the same evening, he begged me, 
in writing, so that she might not hear the request, that I 
would send her along to our Provost's. On going into one 
room, she saw a great number of young ladies ; but though 
she had seen some of them before, she could not name them. 
On entering another room, she said that she saw a great 
many little misses. On being pressed to look earnestly at 
them, and see if she knew any of them, she discovered Mr. 
S.'s sisters, their governess, whom she named, and the 
Misses L. Mr. S. then told me that the Provost had a 



836 REV. A. gilmour's account 

large party that evening, upwards of sixty young ladies; 
that his sisters, their governess, and the Misses L., were to 
his certain knowledge there. I may also mention, that 
while this was going on, I heard a knock at my door. On 
the person being admitted by the housemaid, I asked her 
to tell me if any one was there. She said, Yes, a lady had 
been taken into the parlor. On being pressed to look well 
at her, and tell me who she was, she named her. I went 
out and found that all this was true. 

"I may also state, that during the summer, Dr. T — 

of K , Mrs. T , and her two daughters, visited 

me. On the clay that they left, I requested him to take 
notice of all that was doing in his house at 11 o'clock of 
that same night, and I would visit him, through my clair- 
voyante. I did so, and dispatched to the Doctor, by the 
next morning's post, my questions and her answers, stating 
that the Dr. and Mrs. T. were in a small parlor ; that it 
was lighted by a gas jet from the mantelpiece; that Mrs. 
T. was sitting at the table with a book before her ; that she 
had a turban on her head ; that she had a dress of an un- 
common kind, which she described; that the Dr. was stand- 
ing in the room, describing his dress ; that one little Miss 
was in a small bedroom off the parlor, and that another 
little Miss was in bed with the servant in a room at the 
head of the stair. I may state that she had never been in 
K. in her life. By return of post, the Dr. acknowledged 
the receipt of my letter ; stated that Mrs. T. was dressed 
in the peculiar manner described, and that every thing 
which I had stated was true; but he informed me that he 
was playing upon the flute, and expressed his unwillingness 
to believe in the possibility of any person telling what was 
doing at such a distance. 

" These, my dear Dr. Gregory, are only a few of the 
many strange and startling statements which I could make 
upon this subject. I cannot comprehend the modus operandi 
of clairvoyance ; but neither can I deny the evidence of my 
own senses ; nor can I question the veracity of hundreds of 
upright and honorable men, who are far too clear-sighted 
to be imposed upon themselves, and much too honest to try 
to deceive others. Moreover, every thing around me is a 
mystery, not opposed to reason, but far above all human 
comprehension, I cannot explain how I speak, or hear, or 



OF HIS CASE OF CLAIRVOYANCE. 337 

see; and yet I am compelled to admit the fact. Neither 
can I understand how a clairvoyante can tell me what is 
going on in any part of my house, or in any other house ; 
and yet I know that this has been done hundreds of times, 
and with the most startling accuracy. I cannot tell how it 
is that the dairy oy ante obeys all my volitions ; but still I 
am compelled to admit that this is true. Many honest and 
upright men object to mesmerism upon the principle that 
young women, when mesmerised, may be easily corrupted 
by unprincipled men. I am destitute of experience on this 
point, but express my firm conviction that it is an error. 
The young person that may be corrupted in this state, may 
be corrupted in any state ; but the virtuous and the pure 
will neither indulge in an irregular thought, nor submit to 
an improper proposal when mesmerised. Impure minds 
will indulge in impure actions in any state. — I am, my dear 
Dr. Gregory, with every sentiment of respect and affection, 

" Yours faithfully, 

"And. Gilmour." 

Martbabrae Cottage, 
Greenock, 21st January, 1851. 

Professor Grregory, Edinburgh. 

N.B. — In reference to this point, I would recal w T hat I 
have said in one of the earlier letters, namely, that, as a 
general rule, the moral sense is exalted in the magnetic 
state, and the so-called sleeper is fully awake to moral feel- 
ing. Magnetism does not essentially change the character ; 
but it does seem to give greater preponderance to certain 
feelings, than is observed in the natural state of the subject. 
But so far as I have seen, when a change has been observed, 
the feelings exalted have been those of the love of truth and 
morality, and a very marked hatred of vice and falsehood. 
I have never observed any appearance of exaltation or ex- 
citement of the lower propensities, which, on the contrary, 
have seemed to be laid to sleep, while the higher sentiments 
were in full vigor. W. G. 

Case 46. — The following letter, received when this sheet 

was in type, is particularly interesting as an example of the 

manner in w^hich a man of sense and ability, like the reverend 

writer, although sceptical, investigates any case which may 

29 



338 REV. MR. H.'S ACCOUNT OF 

present itself. The case itself appears to be one of great 
interest, and well worthy of further investigation :— 

"W , 31st March 1851. 

" Dear Sir, 

"I very willingly furnish you with the informa- 
tion which you request from me. Till the month of August 
last, I regarded the whole subject of Animal Magnetism with 
incredulity and dislike ; and with respect to clairvoyance, in 
particular, I was a determined sceptic. I had not, indeed, 
at all investigated the matter; but I have now a somewhat 
uncomfortable consciousness that my scepticism was not a 
whit the less dogged and decided on that account. 

" At the time referred to, I visited, in the company of 
another minister, some old friends in Shetland ; and it was 
not long till we heard of certain wonderful performances in 
the way of mesmerism. We were told, that a man, whom I 
knew very well ten or twelve years ago, had been found to 
be an excellent mesmeric subject, and had enacted marvels 
as a clairvoyant. I listened to the narrative with cool and 
settled incredulity; not questioning, indeed, the veracity of 
the reporters, for that I could not question, but altogether 
disbelieving the correctness of the so-called clairvoyant's 
statements, and having no doubt that there must be rampant 
delusion or imposture somewhere. I made a pretty emphatic 
declaration to this effect, and expressed a wish to have the 
matter thoroughly tested, and to have the testing process 
put entirely into my own hands. This was at once agreed 
to ; and when I then intimated that I should not be satisfied 
with any mere general description of places or persons, nor 
any account whatever of Sir John Franklin, or such like, the 
accuracy of which I could not pronounce upon; but that my 
tests should be such as would establish at the moment, and 
upon the spot, either the truth or the falsehood of the alleged 
revelations, I was told, in reply, to put what tests I pleased, 
as all would be left to myself. This was satisfactory; and 
I had no doubt that I should speedily demolish the delusion. 
The individual was sent for, and mesmerised in my presence ; 
and when he was pronounced to be asleep, I furnished the 
mesmeriser with half-a-dozen questions to ask, not regarding 
Sir J. Franklin, but regarding myself ; and having requested 
that the answers to these queries should be accurately re- 



THE SHETLAND CLAIRVOYANT. 339 

ported to me on my return, I left the room. The questions 
referred to my whereabouts after quitting the apartment ; 
my dress, in which I took care to make some rather material 
alterations ; my exact position and occupation, and such like 
particulars, which the clairvoyant could not possibly know 
by any ordinary means of intelligence, and which there were 
ten thousand to one against his hitting by so many consecu- 
tive guesses. On my return, I demanded a report; and 
found, to my no small surprise, that all the questions had 
been correctly answered, and that the experiment by which 
I had intended to expose a hoax, w T as likely to lead to a very 
different result. In a word, I had taken such precautions, 
and had applied what seemed to me so fair a test, though a 
simple one, that my scepticism received a considerable shock. 
Resolved, however, to sift the matter still more thoroughly, 
we made a great number of very varied experiments ; and, 
as the result of the whole, I was compelled to admit the un- 
questionable reality of the facts, although utterly unable, as 
I still am, to account for them. The full detail would fill a 
volume, as we had the clairvoyant under our hands for a 
period of about two hours during each of three successive 
days. I may, however, state one or two facts w T hich I wit- 
nessed, and for which I can vouch. Perhaps I should men- 
tion here, that the clairvoyant is a poor man — indeed steeped 
in poverty — not very robust in health; but sufficiently active 
and intelligent, and, for his station in life, pretty well edu- 
cated. He has never been out of Shetland, and has had 
little opportunity of acquainting himself in any way with the 
circumstances of ' the adjacent islands of Great Britain and 
Ireland.' One evening, after he had been thrown into a 
mesmeric sleep, my friend and fellow-traveller, whose name 
I shall send you, asked him to accompany him to a certain 
place which he was thinking of, but the name or locality of 
which he did not mention, nor in the least hint at. The 
clairvoyant described the house, first the outside, with ' big 
trees' round it, then several rooms in the interior ; and being 
directed to enter a particular apartment which was indicated 
to him by its position, he described the appearance and occu- 
pation of a gentleman and two ladies who were in it ; de- 
clared that he saw a picture over the mantelpiece ; and being 
farther questioned, deponed that it was the picture of a man, 
and that there was a name below it ; and being urged to read 



340 REV. MR.H.'S ACCOUNT OF 

the name, after experiencing some difficulty with the pen- 
manship, he affirmed that the last word of the name was 
c Wood,' ivhich lie slowly but correctly spelt. The house 
was near Edinburgh, and when we came to compare notes, 
on our return from Shetland, we found that the description 
of the individuals in the room at the time had been quite cor- 
rect ; and we saw over the mantelpiece a print of the Rev. 
J. J. Wood of Dumfries, with his name written below. 

u I had the clairvoyant taken to other places, which were 
not named in his hearing, but which he described with 
great accuracy and minuteness; and some of these experi- 
ments were, if possible, still more satisfactory to my own 
mind than that just mentioned, though I may not be able 
to present the evidence so palpably to others. For example, 
he accompanied me to my own house, without my naming 
it, though this indeed could have made no difference to him, 
and he gave a fuller and more detailed and accurate descrip- 
tion of it than many who have spent hours in it could have 
done. He followed me, in thought, from place to place, 
and, with a momentary hesitation and confusion in one or 
two cases, he correctly described them all. 

u He went in search of Sir John Franklin, and found the 
ships Erebus and Terror, spelling the name of each on the 
stern of the vessel. I am sorry now that I did not make 
such full and explicit enquiries upon this subject, as its im- 
portance and the interest attaching to it deserve, or as it 
would have been proper to institute, in order to compare 
the statements of this clairvoyant with those of others. 
During the time when I had him in hand, my experiments 
were almost entirely of a kind which were fitted to be con- 
clusive upon the spot. However, I heard him declare that 
the Erebus was fast locked up ; that those on board were 
alive, but in low spirits, and that, in answer to his enquiries, 
they said that they had little hope of making their escape. 
He affirmed that there was water for a certain distance 
round the Terror, but that she was not clear of the ice. Of 
course, I give no opinion as to the correctness of these reve- 
lations. The date when they were made was about the 22d 
of August 1850. When sent to these northern regions, and 
as long as he was kept there, he appeared to be shivering 
with cold, and declared the cold to be intense. 

" I might mention other phenomena, which struck me as 



THE SHETLAND CLAIRVOYANT. 341 

curious, but which are, I suppose, common enough in such 
cases, as, for instance, his insensibility to pinching and 
pricking, when applied to his own proper person, and then 
wincing and complaining when these applications were 
made to one of my hands, while I had hold of his with the 
other. And so, when a chain of five or six individuals was 
formed, and the pinching applied to the one farthest off, 
poor James got the full benefit of it. It was also amusing 
to notice his readiness in catching the air of a song, and 
chiming in with the singers — his aptitude in pronouncing 
Gaelic words, which it cost some of us not a little effort to 
master, and you know Shetland is too far north for Gaelic — 
his fluency in repeating German sentences, and in rolling 
forth after you Homer's hexameters in an ore rotundo 
style, which would have done credit to an advanced student 
at the University. 

" I may state farther, that, when awakened, he had no 
recollection of what had passed while he was in the mes- 
merised state. On one of the three occasions on which I 
witnessed the proceedings, he was slightly sick when restored 
to consciousness, but immediately recovered on receiving a 
little cold water. Upon that occasion the room was warm, 
and the sun had been shining upon him while asleep. He 
declared that he had never experienced any bad effects, only 
his wife had once or twice said, that after he had been mes- 
merised, she thought him less talkative than usual. 

"It is right to state, that I found him committing one or 
two mistakes ; but it should also be stated, that they were 
of a kind which served rather to confirm than contradict 
the other evidence — exact instances, indeed, of the canon, 
"Exceptio probat regulam" — as, for example, when he de- 
scribed a certain person, whom he named, as being in a 
certain place, and superintending laborers engaged in a 
particular employment, when it turned that another indi- 
vidual had been so engaged at the time, but who might 
easily be mistaken for the person in question even by those 
who knew them both. It is right to mention another mis- 
take, of which I have no explanation to offer. It seems 
that, on the 21st of Dec. last, James did me the honor of 
paying me a visit, and inspecting my premises, and informed 
my friends in the North who were in my house, and how 
we were engaged. Now, it so happened that the individuals 

29* 



842 CASES OF CLAIRVOYANCE. 

whom he named were here, and were engaged exactly as he 
described, but then this was certainly not on the day on 
which the clairvoyant professed to see us, in truth, not till 
nearly three weeks afterwards. How he should have been 
so correct with regard to persons and circumstances, and 
so much in error with respect to time, I do not pretend to 
explain.* 

" I think I have not mentioned before that the name and 
address of this individual is James Smith, Whalsay, Shet- 
land. He lives on the property of my friend Mr. Bruce, 
of Symbister, in whose house the proceedings above related 
took place. If any one should wish to know more of the 
person who furnishes you with this statement than his in- 
itials will tell them, you may give them whatever amount 
of information they may desire. I remain, 

" Dear sir, 

" Yours truly, 

"P. H." 

Case 47. — Mr. C, with two daughters, travelling from 
Richmond, Yorkshire, to Cheltenham, stopped a night in 
York, where a son was to join them from Richmond. One 
of the young ladies, being put into the magnetic sleep by a 
friend, was asked if she expected any one, when she said 
she saw her brother coming ; but instead of describing the 
expected brother from the north, she spoke of another as 
coming from the south, whom she saw in a railway carriage, 
which she described, with a certain number of fellow-travel- 
lers, and reading a certain book. She also described his 
dress. This puzzled the party much, but their astonish- 
ment was much more increased when this brother, who 
lived in Manchester, came into the room, in the dress de- 
scribed, and confirmed every statement of the clairvoyante. 
His wife was ill, and having heard that his sisters were to 
be at York that evening, he had suddenly started, in order 
to see them, and take back one of them to nurse his wife. 
No communication had been possible, as he had only resolved 

* Here the clairvoyant would seem to have exerted prevision, as 
well as lucid vision. It is not retrovision, for the persons never had 
been there before. The fact illustrates what I have said as to sources 
of error. — W. G. 



CASES OF CLAIRVOYANCE. 343 

to start an hour before doing so. There can be no doubt 
that, in this case, Miss C. saw her brother on his way to 
York. This interesting case was communicated to me by 
Alan Stevenson, Esq., 0. E. 

The same gentleman also communicated to me a brief 
notice of a remarkable instance of sympathetic warning, 
the details of which might be obtained from the parties if 
required. Two ladies, very intimate friends, had both been 
magnetised, which proves that both were susceptible. On 
one occasion, one of them suddenly burst into tears, and 
declared that at that moment some great evil had befallen 
the other. This proved to be exact, although the friends 
were then one hundred miles asunder. 

In the Case of Miss C. above given, it would appear, that 
sympathy led her to find the trace of her brother, and that, 
having found it, she saw him and his companions in the 
railway- carriage by direct clairvoyance. 

Case 48. — The following case is one, in which the names 
of the parties are unknown to me, but I have no reason to 
doubt its accuracy, at all events in all the chief points, and, 
if necessary, I have no doubt it could be well substantiated. 
A young lady, on a visit away from her home, being mag- 
netised, was desired to visit her father's house. She did so, 
and said she saw the postman delivering a letter ; that this 
letter was addressed to her ; that it was from a brother or 
cousin, an officer, and dated from Cork ; that her sister had 
opened it, &c. When she woke, she had no recollection of 
the vision. On being asked, incidentally, where the brother 
or cousin was whom she had spoken of as the writer of the 
letter, she said he had sailed a week or ten days before 
from Cork for the Colonies with his regiment. It was 
therefore supposed that she had been dreaming of some 
past letter. But on her return home, she found that at the 
time she saw it, a letter had arrived, addressed to her, the 
writer having been forced by stress of weather to return to 
Cork, from which place he had written. 

Such cases are very frequent, but a few are sufficient to 
illustrate the essential fact, that many persons, in the mag- 
netic sleep, possess some means, the nature of which we can 
only guess at, of perceiving absent persons and things, and 
correctly describing the occupation of the persons seen. 

Case 49. — A young lady of 17, being magnetised for the 



344 TRAVELLING CLAIRVOYANCE. 

first time by Mr. Lewis, became clairvoyant, and when 
asked by him to do so, visited America. In New York, she 
accurately described the appearance and situation of the 
Astor House Hotel, then proceeded to Niagara, where she 
was at first much alarmed, but afterwards much delighted 
with the scenery, which she most correctly described, on 
both sides of the falls. She next took a view of the country, 
from the suspension bridge above the falls, describing the 
landscape on both sides. After this, she was taken to Buf- 
falo, and immediately on entering a certain part of it, ex- 
claimed at its extreme filthiness, which is true of that part. 
She was then made by silent volition to visit Louisville, 
and the slave market there, which horrified her much. She 
saw an open space, with something about slaves printed on 
a wall or building. She then visited the residence of a 
gentleman at Rochester, known to the family, and saw him 
seated in his parlor, looking over a newspaper, of which 
he is editor. This case might be regarded as one of thought- 
reading, although, on that view, it would not be the less 
interesting or difficult to explain. But I have chiefly no- 
ticed it, because it is an instance of clairvoyance, by 
thought-reading or otherwise, occurring in the very first 
trial, and because of the vividness of the images. Another 
young lady, magnetised at the same time, was made to see 
the same things, and confirmed the statements of the first. 
This case I owe to the kindness of the father of the first- 
mentioned young lady. 

Case 50. — Mr. Atkinson had magnetised a young lady, 
the daughter of a medical man, who resided many miles 
from London, where the young lady was. She became 
clairvoyant, but her father, who came to see her, would not 
believe in her clairvoyance. Mr. A. then requested him, 
when he got home, to do anything he chose, not telling any 
one, at a certain hour and in a certain room. At the time 
appointed, Mr. A. magnetised the young lady, and re- 
quested her to visit her father's dining-room. (It was at 
dinner-time.) She did so, and saw her father and the rest. 
But all at once she began laughing, and said, "What does 
my father mean ? He has put a chair on the dinner-table, 
and the dog on the top of the chair !" Mr. A. sent by the 
first post an account of what his patient had seen, which 
W T as received next morning, and in answer he was informed 



TRAVELLING CLAIRVOYANCE. 345 

that she had seen correctly, for that her father, to the 
amazement of his family, had put the chair on the table, 
and the dog on the chair, at the time agreed on. 

Case 51. — Another lady, a patient also of Mr. Atkinson's, 
who, by a long and laborious magnetic treatment, cured her 
of a most distressing complaint which had resisted all other 
treatment, became highly clairvoyant, and spontaneously, 
in the sleep, saw and described the house of a near relation, 
at a great distance in the country, with its inmates. She 
continued for a long time to visit his house, and one time 
saw that her relative was dangerously ill, and told how 
many persons were in the sick-room; saw the medical men, 
described the treatment, and pursued the case from day to 
day, involuntarily and even against her own wish, as it dis- 
tressed her severely, till the distant patient died. After 
this, she was still involuntarily drawn to the scene of death, 
saw the corpse, described its appearance, and all the pro- 
ceedings connected with the interment. Even after that, 
she felt compelled to visit the corpse in its grave, and de- 
scribed with horror the changes which took place in it. It 
was not for a long time that she was enabled to get rid of 
these painful visions. But every thing that could be ascer- 
tained and verified was found exact. 

The next case was communicated to me by Col. Gore 
Browne, 21st Fusileers. 

Case 52. — Two ladies, the Misses B., being in Paris, and 
about to have a seance with Alexis, wrote to their sister at 
Nottington, desiring her to send some question thence in 
writing. She, however, only wrote the following words, 
which were sealed up in an envelope. "Your letter came 
too late to answer in time for your soiree." This was given 
/to Alexis, while in the sleep, by one of the Misses B., who 
knew neither the contents of the letter, nor who had written 
it. He took her hand and said, in French, "You do not 
know who wrote it. It is written very small, and is English. 
The first word has four letters, it is 'your.' It is written 
so small that I can read no more. (It was very small.) It 
is a lady who sent it to me. She is not in her own house. 
She is living with another person. She is your sister. A 
man has had something to do with what is written. Your 
sister lives with a lady of about 50, in England, near a sea- 
port, about two leagues from it. (Nottington is three miles 



346 CLAIRVOYANCE OF ALEXIS. 

from Weymouth.) The port is called Weymouth. I see 
your sister plainly. She has a high black dress, a cap, and 
her hair in bandeaux. She has a very slender figure; she 
is older than you; her shoulders are broader than yours. 
She is lively, and talks much, indeed continually. She has 
twice lately gone to visit this lady. She is very well, but 
she rose late this morning. At present she is about to read. 
She is reading. Besides her, I see two ladies and a gentle- 
man. He is gone out. He is not in his own house ; but he 
has a room to himself in the lady's house. He goes there 
often. The lady of the house has a high dress of green 
woollen stuff. (This was wrong.) She suffers in her limbs; 
and uses frictions. She is magnetised; she does not sleep. 
Your sister does not believe in clairvoyance. She speaks 
very little French, but understands it. Present my compli- 
ments, and ask her to send me a line in French. Then I 
shall read it with much pleasure." 

By mistake, a note addressed to a servant in Dorsetshire, 
had been put into the envelope shewn to Alexis. He being 
asked what it meant, said, " That is not your affair; it has 
been written by a lady in the house where your sister is." 
Observing the name of Mr. B. below the address on the 
letter, he exclaimed, " Ah ! there is the name of the gentle- 
man I saw in the house with your sister." 

Col. Gore Browne informs me that members of his family 
were told by Alexis, whose powers of thought-reading are 
remarkable, of various private family matters, known only 
to themselves. And I have lately had a similar account, 
in the strongest language, from a very intelligent lady who 
lately saw him. I have heard of many instances of his 
power equally remarkable, but I shall only add the following, 
which are short and striking. 

Case 53. — Mons. Sabine, Chief of the Station of the 
Havre Railroad, went a few days ago to consult Alexis, w T ho, 
when in somnambulism, said, " You come about something- 
lost in the service to which you belong?'' " It is true," 
replied he. " You are employed on the Havre Railroad ?" 
"It is likewise true. (Mons. Sabine not having previously 
stated his business to any one.) It is a basket that is missing, 

containing some little animals." " They are they are 

leeches. You sent to enquire about the basket at Rouen 

and at Havre, and you have received no news of it. This 



CLAIRVOYANCE OF ALEXIS. 347 

is what has taken place. A traveller, going to Havre by 

your carriages on the the- the 11th of November, was 

greatly annoyed, on arriving at his destination, to find only 
one basket instead of two, which he had on setting off." 
" This is wonderful!" said Mons. Sabine. " There were two 
baskets of leeches." " The train (continued Alexis) on ar- 
riving at Rouen, left several travellers with their luggage, 
and one of the baskets was, by mistake, on one of the omni- 
buses going into town, and the conductor was surprised to 
find that no one claimed it. From fear of being scolded, he 
did not deposit it in the baggage warehouse, but hid it for 
some time in his stable ; and while it was there you wrote 
to Rouen and Havre about it, the reply being that it could 
not be found. A few days ago the conductor put it in the 
goods depot, near the entrance and beneath the first window 
on the right. You will find it if you set of to Rouen ; only, 
on account of the length of time that has elapsed, you will 
find about 200 leeches dead.'' On the next day, Mons. 
Sabine returned from Rouen, having found the basket at the 
place indicated by Alexis, with 200 of the leeches dead. 
The directors of the railroad expressed themselves doubly 
obliged to the somnambulist and his magnetism, inasmuch 
as the proprietor of the leeches, perceiving that they were 
not found after twenty-five days, had stated their value to be 
double what it actually was. 

In the autumn of 1845, Alexis gave a series of mesmeric 
seances to the medical men of Havre, each of whom were 
permitted to bring one friend to witness the experiments. 
One of them took with him Mr. Featherstonhaugh, the 
Consul at Havre, who had come over the day before from 
California, and was a decided sceptic as to mesmerism. In 
order to test Alexis, Mr. Featherstonhaugh put in his pocket, 
enclosed in a box, a portion of a Japanese Idol which he 
had picked up out of the wreck of a vessel from Japan, 
which had been lost on the coast of California during his 
stay there. On being asked by Mr. F., " What have I in 
my pocket?" Alexis answered, "It looks like a beetle; 
but it is not one, but part of a Japanese idol with an inscrip- 
tion on it : you picked it up during a walk on the seashore 
in California, and thought at first it was some curious stone, 
but you afterwards perceived it was an idol wdiieh had been 
washed up from the wreck of a Japanese vessel that was lost 



848 INTROVISION AND PREVISION. 

on that coast a few days before." The relator of this was 
Monsieur Paravet, of Havre, to whom it was told by one of 
the medical men present at the time. 



At a seance which took place before the elite of the society 
at Versailles, Dr. Bataille, one of the principal physicians 
of this town, placed in the hands of Alexis a letter, and re- 
quested him to describe the residence of his son, who was 
living at Grandville. " Instead of giving you an account 
of the apartment of your son," said Alexis, "I am now 
occupied about his health, which is very bad." "How! 
bad?" replied his interrogator. " You have in your hand 
his last letter, dated six days ago, in which he states him- 
self to be very well. To-morrow," rejoined Alexis, "you 
will receive a letter from his wife, announcing to you that 
he is very ill. I recommend you on the receipt of this to 
set off immediately, for, knowing as you do the constitution 
of your son, there is only you who can save him. He is 
very ill." The next day the letter arrived, and Dr. Ba- 
taille immediately set off for Grandville, found his son very 
ill, and, after a fortnight's sojourn, succeeded in restoring 
him to health. On his return to Versailles, this event pro- 
duced a great sensation throughout the town. 

I have given these few instances of the power of Alexis 
in thought-reading and clairvoyance, because, from the re- 
ports of many friends who have seen him tried, on many 
different occasions, there can, I think, be no doubt that he 
does possess, at all events at some times, a very remarkable 
degree of power ; while at the same time, I believe that he 
has often failed, and that his power varies very much at 
different times. But, as I have explained in Part I., failures 
can only prove the absence of the power when they occur, 
and have no Aveight in opposition to well-attested instances 
of success. In the case of Alexis, there is reason to think 
that failure has often been caused by over-exertion, and also 
by the influence exerted on him by the bystanders, to which 
he is peculiarly susceptible. 

F. Introvision and Prevision in the Magnetic Sleep. 

Introvision, or the power of seeing and correctly describing 
the interior of the clairvoyant's own frame, is a tolerably 



INTUITION AT A DISTANCE. 349 

frequent phenomenon, but it has not occurred in any of 
those persons whom I have myself magnetised, none of whom, 
apparently, have yet reached a stage sufficiently advanced 
for that purpose. It is possessed, however, in a high degree, 
by the girl E., the clairvoyante of Dr. Haddock. She sees, 
in certain states, the whole of her frame bathed in light, 
transparent, and full of motion. At first, as often happens, 
she was much frightened and agitated at what she saw, but 
soon became reconciled to it, and described it in great detail. 
As I did not see her in this state, I shall merely say that 
Dr. Haddock's observations on this point in her case may 
be received with confidence, from the care and caution with 
w T hich they are made. Many other cases of introvision are 
recorded, but space does not permit me to do more than thus 
briefly refer to these. 

Case 54. — Allied to introvision is the power of seeing in 
the same way the interior of the frame of others en rapport 
with the clairvoyant, which I have already described. I 
may here adduce one instance of his power, as exercised by 
E. at a great distance. I have already stated, (see Case 
29,) that E. in Bolton, described my son, then in Edinburgh, 
whom she has never yet seen. This was in October, and was 
done with the aid of his handwriting. In January he was 
attacked with the symptoms of inflammation of the mem- 
branes of the brain, such as usually precede hydrocephalus in 
children. While he was ill, I happened to mention, in a letter 
to Dr. Haddock, that he was suffering from illness, without 
giving any details. As E. had expressed a great liking for 
the boy when she saw him in her vision of October, Dr. H. 
asked her, when she was in the sleep, if she could see him 
and tell how he was. She had no writing to help her, but 
soon found him, and without having been told of his illness, 
at once said that he was very ill, and proceeded to describe 
minutely the state of the cerebral membranes as they ap- 
peared to her. She gave a minute detail of the symptoms, 
which was as accurate as I could have given at the bed-side. 
She also mentioned that he had studied too much, which 
had hurt him. In fact, I had carefully avoided giving him 
too much to do, because I had observed a tendency to the 
affection under which he then suffered ; but even the very 
moderate amount of study allowed, had proved too much 
for him for some time before the inflammatory symptoms 
30 



850 CLAIRVOYANT PREVISION, 

appeared. It was, in this case, quite evident to all who saw 
the case, and read E.'s account of it, that she had seen it 
as plainly as any of them had done, and her account of the 
state of the membranes was, although given in her own 
plain language, in all probability quite correct. At least 
such was the opinion of a medical friend who saw the boy, 
and who w T as very much struck with the accuracy of E.'s 
description. 

i may here state, that a case is known to me at this time, 
to which I cannot more particularly refer, in which the sleep- 
er, being magnetised, has described the diseased part of his 
own frame, which is out of the reach of ordinary vision, in 
a manner not only very remarkable, but in all human pro- 
bability correct. 



With regard to Prevision, I have not myself had oppor- 
tunities of seeing much of it. It is comparatively rare, and 
I have mentioned, in Part I., various forms in which a cer- 
tain degree of power of predicting the future occurs. The 
commonest is that of predicting the occurrence or recurrence 
of fits in the sleeper, often with the statement that the fit 
to occur at a specified time, will be the last, or the last but 
one, &c. Another form of prevision, which I have also describ- 
ed in Part I., is that of predicting the duration of the sleep, 
w T hich I have seen ; and that of predicting accurately the 
period at which the sleeper will become lucid, or will acquire 
certain powers. In the case of Mr. D., he told me he should 
acquire a very high degree of lucidity after being magnet- 
ised a number of times. I have already stated that he 
could not specify exactly the number of times, but that he 
went on improving in general lucidity, with occasional glimpses 
of a higher state, as long as I was able to magnetise him. 
I had done so about 45 times, probably not much more than 
the half of the number required for full lucidity, and 
was in hopes of getting him at last to fix the precise 
number, and of ascertaining how far he would be correct, 
when his illness interfered, and on his recovery, he had lost 
the extreme susceptibility he at first exhibited, so that I 
must once more begin from the beginning. But this I can- 
not now attempt for some time to come. 

Some clairvoyants predict accident to themselves, and 



PREVISION OF ACCIDENTS. 351 

one case of this kind is alluded to in Part L, which I owe 
to Mr. Atkinson. In that case, the predicted accident was 
a fall on the steps on coming out of church, but it was only 
predicted generally, as to happen at a certain hour, and to 
produce certain effects. It is very common for such as go 
spontaneously into Trance or Extasis to predict these occur- 
rences a long time before. I shall have to mention, briefly, 
a case of this kind under the head of Extasis. 

As to prevision of matters unconnected with the sleeper, 
and referring to other parties, this is much more rare, and 
I have not met with it in any of my own cases. But it has 
been frequently recorded, and I think must be admitted as 
a possible occurrence, beyond our power at present to ex- 
plain. Major Buckley informs me, that it frequently occurs 
in his experience ; and has communicated the following in- 
stances. 

Case 55. — A young lady in London, being magnetised, 
saw her family in the country, described their occupation, 
and added that her little brother had got the measles. Being 
asked, if her little sister had not also got the measles, she 
said, "No, but she will have them on Wednesday. Oh ! my 
elder sister will have them too, but not until the Wednesday 
following." All this proved correct. 

Case 56. — A lady from Canada, who was present, asked 
the clairvoyante to go to Quebec. She declined then, but 
when next magnetised, did so, and correctly described the 
house and its inmates that she was desired to see. She 
then said the lady would be able to read in nuts while 
awake, but not on that day ; and that she herself would do 
so first. She was right in both predictions. 

Case 57. — A clairvoyante told Major B., that if he w'ould 
magnetise a certain lady, who had never been tried, by 
making three passes round her head, the lady would be able 
to read three words, enclosed in boxes. The lady did sleep 
after the third pass, and read only three words, although 
there were four on the slip of paper enclosed in the boxes. 

Major Buckley tells me that he finds similar predictions, 
as to the mode of magnetising others, and the powers they 
will exhibit at certain periods, constantly correct, when 
made by good clairvoyantes. 

Now it is obvious, that if prevision can exist to that ex- 
tent, it may go still farther. It is quite as difficult to fore- 



SbZ TRANCE. 

see when a person will take the measles, or when another 
will be able to read words enclosed in nuts, as to foresee 
any events whatever. 

It appears to me also, as I have hinted in Part I., that 
this fact furnishes the true key for the explanation of correct 
dreams of future events. That such dreams do occur, can- 
not, I think, be doubted ; and I am disposed to regard them 
as instances of clairvoyant prevision occurring during sleep, 
or, as sometimes happens, in the waking hours, most pro- 
bably in a state of reverie or abstraction, which resembles 
sleep in the circumstance that the mind is not dwelling on 
the impressions of the external senses. I shall have occa- 
sion to give a few instances, when I come to spontaneous 
prevision; here I have only to do with that which occurs in 
the magnetic sleep. 

In one or two cases, I have known of predictions being 
made in the sleep, which may prove correct, but the ac- 
curacy of which remains to be ascertained, since the pre- 
dicted events are still future. 



LETTER XVIII. 

Trance. 

The state of Trance, as defined in Part I., has not yet 
occurred in my experience ; but various cases are on record. 
I can only refer, here, to the celebrated Tinsbury case, 
recorded in the early transactions of the Royal Society, in 
which the trance lasted, with hardly an interruption, for 
seventeen weeks. In Mr. Braid's little work on Trance, 
recently published, the reader will find many interesting 
details of the very striking case of Col. Townsend, who 
could produce that state of apparent death at pleasure ; 
and of various instances of the Faquirs in India, who are 
in the habit of doing so, and of allowing themselves to be 
buried in the trance, and awakened out of it days, weeks, 
or even months afterwards. A case, similar to the Tins- 
bury one, lately occurred in France. 



CASE OF EXTASIS. 353 



EXTASIS. 

This state is also one of which I have no experience. 
But it has been very often recorded, and I shall give a brief 
notice of its occurrence, on two distinct occasions, in the 
girl E. at Bolton. Both of these states were predicted 
accurately by E., and the second occurred only about a 
month ago. Dr. Haddock has been kind enough to let me 
see his notes, and from these I extract a brief notice of the 
phenomena, which will -be fully described in Dr. H.'s new 
work. 

Case 58. — In the summer of 1848, E. frequently went, 
spontaneously, and without any warning, into a state of 
extasis. This first happened on the 3rd of July 1848. By 
degrees, she began, in the usual magnetic sleep, to predict 
the occurrence of the extasis, and in one case did so two 
months before it occurred, which it did precisely at the time 
indicated. The same accuracy was observed in all her pre- 
dictions of this kind, although she had no recollection, in 
her waking state, of having made them, and was never told 
that she had done so. 

In the state of extasis she sometimes retained a recollec- 
tion of the place she was in, and of the persons around her, 
but her mind was chiefly occupied with visions, apparently 
of another state of existence, and of what appeared to be 
spiritual beings. She always spoke of the state as of one 
to which she went away, or was taken away, and on return- 
ing to her usual magnetic state, she would remember and 
describe what she had seen and felt. Her eyes were turned 
up, and she was entirely insensible to pain. At first, her 
limbs were flexible, but subsequently her whole frame was 
rigid. She could, when asked, perceive any concealed 
object by clairvoyance, but was usually too much engrossed 
with her spiritual perceptions to attend to such matters. 
On one occasion, when in her usual magnetic state, she 
told Dr. H., that next night, a person long dead would come 
to her, and show her a book with some words in it, which 
she was to take to Dr. H. From her description of the 
book, Dr. H. conjectured that it was a small bible, not then 
in the house ; and he quietly procured it and placed it 
among other books. During the next night, she awoke in 

30* 



354 CASE OF EXTASIS. 

a kind of somnambulistic extasis, and in the dark went down 
two flights of stairs, selected the book, and brought it to 
Dr. H., opened at a certain page. In the darkness it fell, 
but she instantly found the passage by placing it on her 
forehead and turning over the pages. She said the passage 
had been shewn to her in a similar but larger book by the 
person alluded to, and she added many circumstances con- 
nected with the history of the book, known to Dr. H. alone. 
She could not read, but explained, that, when looking for 
the passage by turning over the leaves, she found that, 
when she came to it, she could no longer turn them either 
way. This experiment was often repeated, in the dark, 
and for some months she could always discover the passage, 
when magnetised ; but after a time she ceased to be able 
to do so. Here it is evident, that while her extatic vision 
somehow directed her to the book, she, who could not read, 
and was besides in the dark, had some means by which she 
saw and recognised the passage. When light was present, 
she never attempted to use her eyes, which were moreover 
turned up and closed, but always placed the book on her 
head, and there turned over the leaves. This vision was 
evidently connected with her states of spontaneous extasis, 
because the person seen was one who had always appeared 
to her in that state. 

About the 11th of December, 1850, E., in the magnetic 
state, predicted an extasis to occur on the 8th of January 
1851, and subsequently fixed the hour at 10 A. M. She 
had not gone into this state for some time, but as the day 
approached, she now and then went into a sort of partial 
extasis, and became almost insensible to what was passing 
around her, being much occupied with beings who came, as 
it appeared, to her. On the 8th, at 10 A. M., the predicted 
extasis occurred, and in it her visions were not only of an- 
other state and of spiritual beings, but obviously connected 
with all the former instances of extasis, of which the last 
well-marked one had occurred nearly two years before. I 
do not enter into the details of her visions, which will no 
doubt be given fully in Dr. Haddock's work, now in the 
press; but I may point out the remarkable clearness and 
consistency of these visions, which indicate a very peculiar 
and interesting mental state. In many points, her notions 
of the spiritual world, as derived from the visions, agree 



SPONTANEOUS PHENOMENA. 355 

with those of the somnambulists, or ecstatics of M. Cahagnet, 
alluded to in Part I. ; but it is remarkable, not only that these 
notions were not suggested to her, for Dr. H. most care- 
fully avoids all suggestion, but were in many points directly 
opposed to the ideas that she had formed on such subjects 
from what she had been taught. It is singular that E. also, 
like the French ecstatics, spoke of Swedenborg as appearing 
to her, and as having possessed the power of seeing spirits. 
This is a subject on which it is impossible to form a decided 
opinion without far more extended investigation ; but I may 
be allowed to observe, first, that whatever be the real nature 
of these visions or dreams, they appear to be genuine ; and 
secondly, that their occurrence is always connected with a 
high degree of clairvoyant power, that is, with exalted per- 
ceptive faculties, acting through some unknown medium. 
Thus E., in gradually passing from her full state of extasis 
to her ordinary magnetic state, was always found more clair- 
voyant than usual. It must therefore be admitted as possi- 
ble, if we believe in the existence of a spiritual world at all, 
that in this state of exalted perception we may come into 
communication with it. Not having had any opportunity 
of examining a case of extasis, I can only judge from the 
reports of others; but it appears plainly, that when such 
cases occur, we ought to study them with care and atten- 
tion. In this way alone, and not by rejecting the whole as 
imaginary, can we hope to ascertain the true nature of the 
phenomena. As far as I can judge at present, they do not 
appear to be suggested, at least directly, and there is a 
degree of harmony between the accounts of different observ- 
ers, which is not easily reconcilable with the idea that they 
are altogether delusive. Certainly the clairvoyant visions 
of absent or even deceased persons (unknown to the clair- 
voyants, and often to any one present, but subsequently 
ascertained to be correct,) are not delusive, although beyond 
our power to explain. 

Spontaneous Magnetic Phenomena. 

We have already seen that many of the magnetic phe- 
nomena occur spontaneously. Somnambulism is nothing 
else than the magnetic sleep occurring during natural sleep. 
From the history of the numerous recorded cases, it appears 



6bb SPONTANEOUS CLAIRVOYANCE. 

that somnambulists can walk securely in the dark, or in 
dangerous situations, while the eyes are either closed or in- 
sensible to light. They are often deaf to the loudest sounds, 
and they can pursue their usual occupations, or read and 
write without waking. In short, they seem, like persons in 
the artificial magnetic sleep, to possess a new sense or new 
senses. But I have had no opportunity of studying any 
case of sleep-walking. 

Cataleptic rigidity is very frequent as a symptom of nerv- 
ous disease, and is generally found associated with extreme 
susceptibility to the magnetic influence. 

Spontaneous Vision of Passing Events. 

Sympathy with those who are absent is also very fre- 
quent as a spontaneous occurrence, and depends, in all pro- 
bability, on the fact, that an impressible state is developed, 
either as a symptom of nervous disease, or in health, by 
deep concentration or abstraction. In this state the mind 
is affected by impressions which are usually overlooked. It 
is impossible to doubt, that in many instances, sympathetic 
warnings of the death or illness of absent friends have been 
experienced. Every one knows of some such instances, and 
it has been frequently stated, I believe correctly, that the 
persons who received the warnings, were those of whom the 
dying or sick person was earnestly thinking at the moment. 
At p. 343, I have alluded to a case in which this sympathy 
was felt at the distance of 100 miles; and in Part I., I 
have mentioned the case of a lady, related to me, who fre- 
quently had such warnings of the death of friends at still 
greater distances, which were always found true. The fol- 
lowing cases are well attested. They are interesting, 
because, if we regard them as dreams, they are dreams 
occurring, at the same moment, to different persons, who 
all supposed themselves awake. 

Case 59. — A gentleman of rank and property in Scotland 
served in his youth in the army of the Duke of York in 
Flanders. He occupied the same tent with two other officers, 
one of whom was sent on some service. One night, during 
his absence, this gentleman, while in bed, saw the figure of 
his absent friend sitting on the vacant bed. He called to 
his companion, who also saw the figure, which spoke to them, 



SYMPATHETIC VISIONS. 357 

and said he had just been killed at a certain place, pointing 
to his wound. He then requested them, on returning to 
England, to call at a certain agent's house, in a certain street, 
and to procure from him a document of great importance for 
the family of the deceased. If the agent, as "was probable, 
should deny the possession of it, it would be found in a certain 
drawer of a cabinet in his room. Next day, it appeared 
that the officer had been shot, as he had told them, in the 
manner, and at the time and place indicated. After the 
return of the troops to England, the two friends, walking 
together one day, found themselves in the street where the 
agent lived, and the request of their friend recurred to both, 
they having hitherto forgotten it. They called on the agent, 
who denied having the paper in question, when they com- 
pelled him, in their presence, to open the drawer of the 
cabinet, where it was found, and restored to the widow. 
Such is, briefly, the story, which illustrates the effect of 
sympathy in producing the vision of the absent man at the 
moment of his death. It may be ridiculed as a ghost story ; 
but as I first heard it from a relative of my own, who was 
a neighbor in the country to the gentleman to whom it 
happened, and had often heard it from himself, as I subse- 
quently heard it confirmed by the gentleman himself; and 
as I know that many others had it from him, I am satisfied 
that the facts are true. Even if we suppose the persons 
who saw the vision to have heard the details given by the 
figure from him when alive, and to have forgotten them, 
which is not likely, how are we to account for both seeing 
the same vision at the same time ? I may add, that a lady 
of rank, who had often heard the story, told me, that when 
she or some one else once spoke of it in a company, a gentle- 
man present said, " Perhaps you are not aware that the 
officer whose figure was seen was my father, and that I hold 
certain property by virtue of the very document which was 
so recovered." 

Case 60. — An officer occupied the same room with another 
officer in the West Indies. One night he awoke his com- 
panion, and asked him if he saw any thing in the room, 
when the latter answered that he saw an old man in the 
corner, whom he did not know. That, said the other, is my 
father, and I am sure he is dead. In due time, news arrived 
of his death in England at that very time. Long afterwards, 



358 SYMPATHETIC VISIONS. 

the officer took his friend who had seen the vision to visit 
the widow, when, on entering the room, he started, and said, 
that is the portrait of the old man I saw. It was, in fact, 
the portrait of the father, whom the friend had never seen, 
except in the vision. This story I have also on the best 
authority; and every one knows that such stories are not 
uncommon. It is very easy, but not satisfactory, to laugh 
at them as incredible ghost stories ; but there is a natural 
truth in them, whatever that may be. 

Case 61. — The next case is one widely known, but in- 
teresting from the fact that the vision was seen by many 
persons. At a mess-table in America, the whole of the 
officers present saw the door open, and a figure pass through 
the room to an inner room. It was that of an absent com- 
rade. As the figure did not reappear, and there was no 
other issue from the inner room, the company, surprised, 
looked into the inner room, and found it empty. It ap- 
peared that the person seen, died or was killed at the same 
time. Here it is very remarkable, that the sympathy 
to which we must, in all probability, ascribe the vision, 
affected so many persons. But the most striking fact was, 
that one officer, who had never seen the absent man, saw 
the figure. Some years afterwards, this officer, (a very 
distinguished one,) being in the streets of London, along 
with another who had also been present when the figure 
was seen, exclaimed, on seeing a gentleman, " There is the 
man whose figure I saw!" "No,' ? replied his friend; "it 
is not he, but his twin brother." So that the officer, who 
had never seen the dead man, except in the vision, recog- 
nised his brother by his strong likeness to the figure he had 
seen. 

Case 62. — A lady saw, in a spontaneous vision or dream, 
a hand taking a brooch from her desk, where she had 
shortly placed it before. She saw the hand so plainly, 
that she could have pointed it out among a hundred, and 
recognised it as the hand of one of her servants. When 
morning came, the desk was examined, and the brooch was 
gone. As it was not ascertained, in this case, by whom it 
had been taken, we have not the full proof of the accuracy 
of the vision ; but it is nevertheless interesting. The same 
lady exhibited many remarkable phenomena ; but was not 
found to be clairvoyant in the magnetic sleep. On one oc- 



SPONTANEOUS RETROVISION. 359 

casion, she fell into a state of trance, resembling death, and 
was supposed to be dead ; but, as happens in many similar 
cases, she was conscious, and quite aware of what was 
passing, without the power of making the slightest move- 
ment, or of uttering a sound. For this case I am indebted 
to Mr. Atkinson. 

Spontaneous Ketrovision. 

In the preceding cases, there has always occured the 
vision of a dying person, then at a distance, and it is this 
which I am disposed to ascribe to what we call sympathy 
between certain persons in regard to events then passing. 
But it would appear that a similar sympathy may exist in 
reference to past events, just as we have seen retrovision 
occurring in clairvoyance. It is well known, that in all 
ages, and in every country, the belief has prevailed that 
certain places are visited by visions of the former inhabi- 
tants, and, according to popular belief, this occurs chiefly 
where crimes have been committed. It is easy to see how 
many such stories have been originated in the minds of the 
timid, the ignorant, and the superstitious, perhaps from 
dreams, or from waking visions ; and how they may have 
come to be much exaggerated and distorted. But there ap- 
pear to be cases in which such an explanation is hardly ad- 
missible, and in which the same vision has presented itself, 
at long intervals, to many different persons, many of whom, 
had never heard of them. Every one must have heard of 
many such cases, apparently well attested ; and I confess 
that I find it difficult to convince myself, that this universal 
belief is altogether destitute of a true natural foundation. 
On the contrary, just as Reichenbach has shown, that one 
kind of apparitions is caused by luminous odylic emanations 
from dead bodies, or from other objects, I am inclined to 
think that a careful study of Animal Magnetism would clear 
up other kinds of visions or spectres. And since persons 
in the magnetic state may have distinct visions of past 
events, so we may imagine persons, not actually in that 
state, but in one approaching to it, in which they are in- 
tensely susceptible to magnetic influences, to possess, occa- 
sionally, the power of seeing past events imaged before 
them. The chief difficulty is to understand how any vision 



360 SPONTANEOUS RETROVISION. 

comes to be attached to any special locality. But since 
highly lucid and sensitive subjects often perceive the traces 
of persons in places where they no longer are, we may sup- 
pose such traces to adhere to places, and to act on or be 
perceived by the sensitive, at a great distance of time. The 
following case will illustrate the phenomenon alluded to. I 
have it on very good authority, and have every reason to 
believe that the facts occurred as here stated. 

Case 63. — In an old house near Edinburgh, long since 
pulled down, resided a family, in which was a negro servant, 
who slept in a wing of the house. The first time he slept 
there, he saw a vision, which nearly terrified him out of his 
senses. (It is to be remembered that negroes are very sen- 
sitive to the magnetic influence.) In the middle of the 
night, he saw the figure of a lady, richly dressed, but with- 
out her head, and carrying a child, pass through his room. 
When he spoke of it, the family, who had only recently 
rented the house, ridiculed him, and said he must have been 
drunk or mad. But he declared he had been quite sober. 
He was, however, compelled to sleep there again, and again 
saw the vision, and this went on till it was considered cruel 
to insist on his sleeping there, from the distress and terror 
it occasioned. When the vision was mentioned to persons 
belonging to the family who were the proprietors of the 
house, it was instantly recognised as one which had often 
appeared to those who slept in that room. Many years 
afterwards, the house was pulled down, and in a hollow in 
the wall of that room was found a box, shorter than a coffin, 
in which were the remains, the bones, of a female and of a 
child, the head of the female being at the side, and not in 
its natural place. A lady who heard of this, and had also 
known of the negro's vision, found him, now an old man, 
living in a remote part of the country, and without telling 
him what had been found, got him to tell the story of his 
vision, which he did, word for word, as above stated, and, 
even at that period, with every sign of terror. The only 
idea I can form of the cause of the vision, which was known 
in the family to have appeared to various persons, is this, 
that some influence, of a magnetic or odylic nature, pro- 
ceeding from the remains, acted on sensitive persons within 
its reach, so as to cause them to have a clairvoyant vision 
of the past. 



THE TOWER GHOST. 361 

The following case, which was mentioned to me by Sir 
David Brewster as well attested, is of a similar nature. I 
do not remember the names of the parties, but I believe the 
case has been published. 

Case 64. — A nobleman one day went to hear a very dis- 
tinguished Professor of Philosophy lecture in Berlin. Dur- 
ing the lecture, which turned on apparitions, he observed 
the Professor to be much agitated; and after it was over, 
he mentioned this to the Professor, and begged for an ex- 
planation. This he gave, observing that the subject was 
one on which he could not dwell without deep emotion. It 
appeared that he had once been appointed to a living in 
East Prussia, where his predecessor was a priest generally 
respected. The first time he slept there, he saw, as he 
awoke in the morning, the figure of a priest cross the room 
leading two children by the hand, and disappear behind the 
stove. If I remember rightly, he recognised the priest he 
saw to be the late incumbent, from a portrait in the room. 
Having discovered it was a vision he had seen, he made 
some enquiries, and was informed that two children, sup- 
posed to be natural children of the late incumbent, and who 
lived with him, had disappeared. For some time nothing 
more was discovered; but when it became necessary to light 
a fire in the stove, behind which the figures had vanished, a 
most offensive smell was observed to proceed from the fire, 
which would not burn properly, and, on examination, and 
taking. down the w r all of the stove, the remains of two chil- 
dren were found concealed in it. 

I shall here mention another case, kindly communicated 
to me by Sir David Brewster. It is that of the " Tower 
Ghost." Unlike the two preceding cases, the origin of it 
is quite obscure. 

Case 65. — " At the trial of Queen Caroline, in 1821, the 
guards at the Tower were doubled, and Col. S., the keeper 
of the Regalia, was quartered there with his family. To- 
wards twilight, one evening, and before dark, he, his wife, 
son, and daughter, were sitting, listening to the sentinels, 
who were singing and answering one another, on the beats 
above and below them. The evening was sultry, and the 
door stood ajar, when something suddenly rolled in through 
the open space. Col. S. at first thought it was a cloud of 
smoke, but it assumed the shape of a pyramid of dark thick 
31 



SbZ THE TOWER GHOST. 

gray, with something working towards its centre. Mrs. S. 
saw a form. Miss S. felt an indescribable sensation of chill 
and horror. The son sat at the window, staring at the 
terrified and agitated party, but saw nothing. Mrs. S. 
threw her head down upon her arms on the table, and 
screamed out, 'Oh! Christ! it has siezed me!' The Colonel 
took a chair, and hurled it at the phantom, through which 
it passed. The cloud seemed to him to revolve round the 
room, and then disappear, as it came, through the door. 
He had scarcely risen from his chair to follow, when he 
heard a loud shriek and heavy fall at the bottom of the stair. 
He stopped to listen, and in a few minutes the guard came 
up and challenged the poor sentry, who had been so lately 
singing, but who now lay at the entrance in a swoon. The 
Serjeant shook him rudely, declared he was asleep on his 
post, and put him under arrest. Next day the soldier was 
brought to a court-martial, when Col. S. appeared on his 
behalf, to testify that he could not have been asleep, for that 
he had been singing, and the Colonel's family had been 
listening, ten minutes before. The man declared that, while 
walking toward the stair entrance, a dreadful figure had 
issued from the doorway, which he took at first for an 
escaped bear, on its hind legs. It passed him, and scowled 
upon him with a human face, and the expression of a demon, 
disappearing over the Barbican. He was so frightened that 
he became giddy, and knew no more. His story, of course, 
was not believed by his judges, but he was believed to have 
had an attack of vertigo, and was acquitted and released on 
Col. S.'s evidence. That evening, Col. S. went to congratu- 
late the man ; but he was so changed that he did not know 
him. From a glow of rude health in his handsome face, he 
had become of the color of bad paste. Col. S. said to him, 
6 Why do you look so dejected, my lad? I think I have 
done you a great favor in getting you off; and I would ad- 
vise you in future to continue your habit of singing.' ' Col- 
onel,' he replied, ' you have saved my character, and I thank 
you ; but as for any thing else, it little signifies. From the 
moment I saw that demon, I felt I was a dead man.' He 
never recovered his spirits, and died next day, forty-eight 
hours after he had seen the spectre. Col. S. had conversed 
with the Serjeant about it, who quietly remarked, ' It was a 
bad job, but he was only a recruit, and must get used to it, 



SPONTANEOUS PREVISION. 363 

like the rest.' 'What!' said Col. S., 'have you heard of 
others seeing the same?" ' Oh, yes,' answered the serjeant; 
' there are many queer, unaccountable things seen here, I 
assure you, and many of our recruits faint a time or two, 
but they get used to it, and it don't hurt them.' Mrs. S. 
never got used to it. She remained in a state of dejection 
for six weeks, and then died. Col. S. was long in recover- 
ing from the impression, and was reluctant to speak of it ; 
but he said he would never deny the thing he had seen." 

It is evident that, in this case, the fatal results were 
chiefly caused by terror ; but the essential fact is, that some- 
thing was seen, and that, too, by different persons, and 
that similar things had been seen before. It is worthy of 
notice, that what to some appeared as a horrible human 
form, appeared to others as a mass of grey smoke, and was 
not visible to others. Now, this is one of the characters of 
odylic light. Some. cannot see it; others see only a faintly 
luminous grey smoke ; others a more luminous and less dense 
vapor; and others a bright light; the differences being 
caused by various degrees of sensitiveness, and by the dif- 
ferent distances at w^hich the light is seen, as well as its 
various degrees of intensity. If it be asked, Could a mere 
shapeless luminous cloud or emanation assume a human form 
merely by the force of imagination ? we must admit this to 
be possible. But we do not know that all odylic emanations 
are shapeless, when viewed at the proper distance ; nor do 
we know that they may not, in some cases, possess the form 
of that from which they are derived. 

Spontaneous Prevision. 

We now come to Spontaneous Prevision. This has been 
recorded, as occurring in all ages, sometimes in the form of 
dreams, at other times in that of waking visions or second 
sight. By far the most remarkable, because the best at- 
tested, instance, in modern times, is the celebrated predic- 
tion of M. Cazotte, concerning the events of the Reign of 
Terror. I shall give it entire, and I shall only promise, 
that it was well known, in all its details, both in Paris and 
London, at a time when every one thought it a mere dream. 
I have seen persons who heard of it very soon after it 
was delivered, and who remembered hearing it ridiculed in 



864 PREDICTION OF CAZOTTE. 

society as absurd. It is particularly worthy of notice, that 
Cazotte, who was a man of a very peculiar turn of mind, 
and much addicted to the study of occult science, was also 
subject to fits of abstraction, reverie, or dreaming, in which 
he seems to have been clairvoyant, and that this was far 
from being the only occasion in which he uttered predictions 
which were verified. He is to be considered as a man sub- 
ject to fits of spontaneous lucidity, which, in his case, often 
took the form of prevision. The following account is ex- 
tracted from the posthumous memoirs of Laharpe. 

Case 66. — " It appears but as yesterday ; yet, neverthe- 
less, it was at the beginning of the year 1788. We were 
dining with one of our brethren at the Academy, — a man 
of considerable wealth and genius. The company was nu- 
merous and diversified — courtiers, lawyers, academicians, 
&c; and, according to custom, there had been a magnificent 
dinner. At dessert, the wines of Malvoisin and Constantia 
added to the gaiety of the guests that sort of license which 
is sometimes forgetful of bon ton : — we had arrived in the 
world, just at that time when anything was permitted that 
would raise a laugh. Chamfort had read to us some of his 
impious and libertine tales, and even the great ladies had 
listened without having recourse to their fans. From this 
arose a deluge of jests against religion. One quoted a ti- 
rade from the Puselle; another recalled the philosophic 
lines of Diderot, — 

' Et des boyaux clu dernier pretre, 
Serrer le cou du dernier roi, ; 

for the sake of applauding them. A third rose, and hold- 
ing his glass in his hand, exclaimed, 'Yes, gentlemen, I 
am as sure that there is no Grod, as I am sure that Homer 
was a fool; and, in truth, he was as sure of the one as the 
other. The conversation became more serious ; much ad- 
miration was expressed on the revolution which Voltaire 
had effected, and it was agreed that it was his first claim 
to the reputation he enjoyed : — he had given the prevailing 
tone to his age, and had been read in the ante-chamber, as 
well as in the drawing-room. One of the guests told us, 
while bursting with laughter, that his hairdresser, while 
powdering his hair, had said to him — ' Do you observe, sir, 
that although I am hut a poor miserable barber, I have no 



PREDICTION OF CAZOTTE. 365 

more religion than any other.' "We concluded that the re- 
volution must soon be consummated, — that it was indispen- 
sable that superstition and fanaticism should give place to 
philosophy, and we began to calculate the probability of 
the period when this should be, and which of the present 
company should live to see the reign of reason. The oldest 
complained that they could scarcely flatter themselves with 
the hope ; the young rejoiced that they might entertain 
this very probable expectation ;— and they congratulated 
the Academy especially for having prepared the great work, 
and for having been the great rallying point, the centre, 
and the prime mover of the liberty of thought. 

" One only of the guests had not taken part in all the 
joyousness of this conversation, and had even gently and 
cheerfully checked our splendid enthusiasm. This was Ca- 
zotte, an amiable and original man, but unhappily infatu- 
ated with the reveries of the illuminati. He spoke, and 
with the most serious tone. 'Gentlemen,' said he, 'be satis- 
fied ; you will all see this great and sublime revolution, 
which you so much admire. You know that I am a little 
inclined to prophesy: I repeat, you will see it.' He was 
answered by the common rejoinder, ' One need not be a eon- 
juror to see that.' 'Be it so; but perhaps one must be a 
little more than conjuror, for what remains for me to tell 
you. Do you know what will be the consequence of this 
revolution — what will be the consequence to all of you, and 
what will be the immediate result — the well-established 
effect — the thoroughly recognised consequence to all of you 
who are here present?' 'Ah!' said Condorcet, with his 
insolent and half-suppressed smile, ' let us hear — a philoso- 
pher is not afraid to encounter a prophet.' ' You, Monsieur 
de Condorcet, you will yield up your last breath on the floor 
of a dungeon ; you will die from poison, which you will have 
taken, in order to escape from execution — from poison, 
which the happiness of that time will oblige you to carry 
about your person.' 

"At first astonishment .was most marked, but it was soon 
recollected, that the good Cazotte is liable to dreaming, 
though apparently wide awake, and a hearty laugh is the 
consequence. 'Monsieur Cazotte, the relation you give is 
not so agreeable as your Diable Amoureux' — (a novel of 
Cazotte's). 

31* 



366 PREDICTION OF CAZOTTE. 

" But what diable has put into your head this prison and 
this poison, and these executioners ? What can all these 
have in common with philosophy and the reign of reason ?' 
'This is exactly what I say to you; it is in the name of phi- 
losophy — of humanity — of liberty; — it is under the reign 
of reason, that it will happen to you thus to end your career ; 
— and it will indeed be the reign of reason; for then she 
will have her temples, and indeed, at that time, there will 
be no other temples in France than the temples of reason.' 
' By my truth, 5 said Chamfort, with a sarcastic smile, 'you 
will not be one of the priests of those temples.' 'I do not 
hope it; but you, Monsieur de Chamfort, you will be one, 
and most worthy to be so ; you will open your veins with 
twenty-two cuts of a razor, and yet you will not die till some 
months afterwards.' They looked at each other and laughed 
again. You, Monsieur Vicq d'Azir, you will not open your 
own veins, but you will cause yourself to be bled, six times 
in one day, during a paroxysm of the gout, in order to 
make more sure of your end, and you will die in the night. 
You, Monsieur de Nicolai, you will die upon the scaffold; — 
you, M. Bailly, on the scaffold ; — you, Monsieur de Male- 
sherbes, on the scaffold.' — 'Ah ! God be thanked,' exclaimed 
Boucher, 'it seems tKat Monsieur has no eye, but for the 
Academy ; — of it he has just made a terrible execution, and 

I, thank Heaven ' ' You ! you also will die upon 

the scaffold.' ' Oh, what an admirable guesser,' was uttered 
on all sides; 'he has sworn to exterminate us all.' 'No, 
it is not I who have sworn it.' — 'But shall we then be con- 
quered by the Turks or the Tartars ? Yet again ' 

'Not at all; I have already told you, you will then be go- 
verned only by philosophy — only by reason. They who will 
thus treat you, will be all philosophers — will always have 
upon their lips the self-same phrases which you have been 
putting forth for the last hour — will repeat all your maxims 
— and will quote, as you have done, the verses of Diderot, 
and from La Pucelle.' They then whispered among them- 
selves — ' You see that he has gone mad' — for he preserved 
all this time the most serious and solemn manner. 'Do you 
not see that he is joking? and you know that in the cha- 
racter of his jokes, there is always much of the marvellous.' 
' Yes,' replied Chamfort, 'but his marvellousness is not cheer- 
ful — it savors too much of the gibbet ; — and when will all 



PREDICTION OF CAZOTTE. 367 

this happen V ' ' Six years will not have passed over before 
all that I have said to you shall be accomplished.' 

" ' Here are some astonishing miracles/ (and this time it 
was myself who spoke,) ' but you have not included me in 
your list.' 'But you will be there, as an equally extraor- 
dinary miracle ; you will then be a Christian.' 

"Vehement exclamations on all sides. 'Ah/ replied 
Chamfort, ' I am comforted ; if we shall perish only when 
La Harpe shall be a Christian, we are immortal.' 

"'As for that,' then observed Madame la Duchess de 
Grammont, ' we women, we are happy to be counted for 
nothing in these revolutions : when I say for nothing, it is 
not that we do not always mix ourselves up with them a 
little, but it is a received maxim, that they take no notice 
of us, and of our sex.' 'Your sex, ladies, will not protect 
you this time ; and you had far better meddle with nothing, 
for you will be treated entirely as men, without any differ- 
ence whatever.' 'But what, then, are you really telling 
us of, Monsieur Cazotte ? — You are preaching to us the end 
of the world.' ' I know nothing on that subject ; but what 
I do know is, that you, Madame la Duchesse, will be con- 
ducted to the scaffold, you and many other ladies with you, 
in the cart of the executioner, and with your hands tied 
behind your backs.' 'Ah! I hope that, in that case, I 
shall have a carriage hung in black.' ' No, madame ; 
higher ladies than yourself will go like you in the common 
car, with their hands tied behind them.' ' Higher ladies ! 
what? the princesses of the blood?' ' Still more exalted 
personages.' — Here a sensible emotion pervaded the whole 
company, and the countenance of the host was dark and 
lowering: — they began to feel that the joke was become 
too serious. Madame de Grammont, in order to dissipate 
the cloud, took no notice of the reply, and contented her- 
self with saying, in a careless tone, — ' You see that he 
will not leave me even a confessor.' ' No, Madame, you 
will not have one, neither you, nor any one besides. The 
last victim to whom this favor will be afforded, will be 

' He stopped for a moment. 'Well! who then 

will be the happy mortal, to whom this prerogative will be 
given?' ' 'Tis the only one which he will have then re- 
tained — and that will be the king of France.' 

" The master of the house rose hastily, and every one with 



368 PREDICTION OF CAZOTTE. 

him. He walked up to M. Cazotte, and addressed him with 
a tone of deep emotion: — 'My dear Monsieur Cazotte, this 
mournful joke has lasted long enough. You carry it too 
far, — even so far as to derogate from the society in which 
you are, and from your own character.' Cazotte answered 
not a word, and was preparing to leave, when Madame de 
Grammont, who always sought to dissipate serious thought, 
and to restore the lost gaiety of the party, approached him, 
saying, ' Monsieur the prophet, who has foretold us of our 
good fortune, you have told us nothing of your own.' He 
remained silent for some time, with downcast eyes. ' Ma- 
dame, have you ever read the siege of Jerusalem, in Jose- 
phus V ' Yes ! who has not read that ? But answer as if I 
had never read it.' ' Well, then, Madame, during the siege, 
a man, for seven days in succession, went round the ram- 
parts of the city, in sight of the besiegers and besieged, 
crying unceasingly, with an ominous and thundering voice, 
Woe to Jerusalem ; and the seventh time he cried, Woe to 
Jerusalem, woe to myself — and at that moment an enormous 
stone, projected from one of the machines of the besieging 
army, struck him, and destroyed him.' 

" And, after this reply, M. Cazotte made his bow and re- 
tired. 

" When, for the first time, I read this astonishing predic- 
tion, I thought that it was only a fiction of La Harpe's, and 
that that celebrated critic wished to depict the astonishment 
which would have seized persons distinguished for their 
rank, their talents, and their fortune*, if, several years before 
the revolution, one could have brought before them the 
causes which were preparing, and the frightful consequences 
which would follow. The enquiries which I have since made, 
and the information I have gained, ha,ve induced me to 
change my opinion. M. le Comte A. de Montesquieu, hav- 
ing assured me that Madame de Genlis had repeatedly told 
him that she had often heard this prediction related by M. 
de La Harpe, I begged of him to have the goodness to so- 
licit from that lady more ample details. This is her reply: — 

"'November, 1825. 

"'I think I have somewhere placed, among my souvenirs, 
the anecdote of M. Cazotte, but I am not sure. I have 
heard it related a hundred times by M. de La Harpe, before 
the revolution, and always in the same form as I have met 



PREDICTION OF CAZOTTE. 369 

with, it in print, and as he himself has caused it to be printed. 
This is all that I can say, or certify, or authenticate by my 
signature. — Comtesse de Genus.' 

"'I have also seen the son of M. Cazotte, who assured 
me that his father was gifted, in a most remarkable manner, 
with a faculty of prevision, of which, he had numberless 
proofs ; one of the most remarkable of which was, that on 
returning home on the day on which his daughter had suc- 
ceeded in delivering him from the hands of the wretches who 
were conducting him to the scaffold, instead of partaking 
the joy of his surrounding family, he declared that in three 
days he should be again arrested, and that he should then 
undergo his fate ; and in truth he perished on the 25th of 
Sept. 1792, at the age of 72.' 

"In reference to the above narrative, M. Cazotte, jun., 
would not undertake to affirm that the relation of La Harpe 
was exact in all its expressions, but had not the smallest 
doubts as to the reality of the facts. 

" I ought to add, that a friend of Vicq d'Azir, an in- 
habitant of Rennes, told me, that that celebrated physician, 
having travelled into Brittany some years before the revo- 
lution, had related to him, before his family, the prophecy 
of Cazotte. It seemed that, notwithstanding his scepticism, 
Vicq d'Azir was uneasy about this prediction. 

"Letter on this subject addressed to M. Mialle by M. le 
Baron Delamothe Langon : — 

" 'You enquire of me, my dear friend, what I know con- 
cerning the famous prediction of Cazotte mentioned by La 
Harpe. I have only on this subject to assure you upon my 
honor, that I have heard Madame la Comtesse de Beau- 
harnais many times assert that she was present at this very 
singular historical fact. She related it always in the same 
way, and with the accent of truth ; — her evidence fully 
corroborated by that of La Harpe. She spoke thus, before 
all the persons of the society in which she moved, many of 
whom still live, and could equally attest this assertion. 

" ' You may make what you please of this communication. 

" ' Adieu, my good old friend. I remain with inviolable 
attachment, yours, Baron Delamothe Langon. 

'"Paris, Dec. 18th, 1833.'" 

— LaHarpe: Posthumous Memoirs, Paris, 1806, vol. i. p. 62. 



370 SPONTANEOUS PREVISION. 

In Part I., I have mentioned the case of a lady, who had 
fits of spontaneous lucidity. Mr. Atkinson, to whom I am 
indebted for the instances of this power in that lady, given 
at p. 141, has kindly furnished me with some further details 
of her case, from which it appears that it also presented 
some phenomena of prevision. 

Case 67. — The lady in question, is one possessed of the 
highest qualities both of mind and person, and has enjoyed 
the esteem and respect of many distinguished men. She 
has always had the power of clairvoyance, both as to pre- 
sent events, and sometimes as to future events, occurring 
spontaneously, and generally when she has been sitting 
alone and quiet in the evening, (that is, in circumstances 
favorable to abstraction or concentration of thought.) Her 
visions do not always relate to important events, but fre- 
quently refer to some trifling occurrence in the neighboring 
street. At other times she will see clearly all the circum- 
stances connected with the death-bed of a friend, the per- 
sons present, with other details, the whole facts perhaps 
not to be realised for some years, and then occurring as 
foreseen. Sometimes she sees what appears to be mere 
optical delusions, as, for example, an empty arm-chair 
where no chair exists. But it is possible that even these 
visions, if understood, or properly interpreted, might be 
found to have a meaning. The case narrated at p. 141, is 
an excellent example of her power of seeing present or 
passing events, and although I am not permitted to give in 
detail any instances of her prevision, I have no doubt that 
she has repeatedly possessed that power. It is indeed im- 
possible to form a satisfactory theory to explain this, but 
neither can Ave explain the power of seeing passing events. 
One point in this case is very interesting, namely, that the 
lady, besides being subject to fits of spontaneous clairvoy- 
ance, is also, as might be expected, of an exceedingly sensi- 
tive and impressible nature. Thus, on one occasion, when 
a gentleman visited her house, she experienced a very un- 
comfortable sensation so long as he was present, and ob- 
served a spot or sore on his cheek. Two days after, a 
similar spot or sore appeared on her own cheek, in precisely 
the same situation, and with the same characters. It is 
evidently in such idiosyncrasies that spontaneous clairvoy- 
ance is most likely to appear. 



PROPHETIC DREAM. 371 

To Mr. Atkinson, who has profoundly and acutely studied 
• the whole of this subject, I am also indebted for the follow- 
ing instance of spontaneous prevision, in the shape of a 
dream, in the words of the gentleman who had the dream. 

Case 68. — " My brother, who was an officer in the Royal 
Engineers, and to whom I was tenderly attached, died in 
the West Indies in the autumn of 1826. As well as I can 
recollect, about a month before the news of his death ar- 
rived, I had the following dream concerning him. I was 
then pursuing my studies in the University of Dublin, and 
used generally to spend my evenings at a friend's house. 
I dreamed that, on returning to my lodgings one night, I 
received a message from my uncle, who resided in Dublin, 
to come to him directly ; that I accordingly went, and was 
ushered into his private room ; that he was seated at his 
desk in a particular corner, and asked me to take a chair at 
the fire. He then told me, he was sorry to say that he had 
bad news to communicate to me respecting my brother, and 
that, in fact, he was no more. I thought that I then im- 
mediately replied, Is there any evidence to show in what 
state of mind he died ? to which my uncle replied there 
was, and then handed to me the letters which he had re- 
ceived, upon which I took my departure. Such w r as the 
dream, and it made so strong an impression on my mind 
that I was greatly distressed, and could not, as I had always 
hitherto done, make mention of him in my prayers. I re- 
lated the dream, at the time, to the lady to whom I was 
afterwards married, and she has a perfect recollection of all 
the circumstances. After a little time, the impression wore 
off, and I had nearly forgotten it, when returning to my 
lodgings one evening, I was informed that my cousin had 
called, and had left an urgent request for me to proceed to 
his father's house as soon as I came home. I accordingly 
went, and was shown into his room ; he was seated in the 
same spot in which I had seen him in my dream ; the desk, 
papers, and even candles, were in exactly the same position. 
He fnvited me to a chair at the fire, and the same conver- 
sation took place, verbatim, as in my dream. He made the 
communication to me precisely in the same words, and I 
made exactly the same reply, as related above. He then 
handed me the letters, and I took my leave, being too much 
agitated and shocked to continue the conversation. But 



372 SPONTANEOUS PREVISION. 

strange to say, I did not recollect the dream till the inter- 
view was over, when it suddenly recurred to me, with very 
startling effect." Mr. Atkinson adds: " The subject of 
this dream is a clear and sober-minded clergyman, greatly 
respected by all who know him, and on the accuracy of 
whose statements you may place the fullest reliance." — It 
is, I think, evident that mere coincidence is not sufficient 
to account for the accuracy of this prevision, even were it 
a solitary case. And if the facts be admitted, they are quite 
as marvellous and inexplicable as any recorded prediction 
whatever. 

Case 69. — A lady, w T ho had left her only child in Edin- 
burgh, and was then in Germany, told me at the time that 
she had seen a vision or dream of her son seriously ill in 
bed, and of his nurse standing in a particular spot, where 
he could not see her, in great distress, watching the sick 
child- On returning home, she pointed out the spot where 
she had seen the nurse, who had stood for a long time there, 
watching her patient. She was then informed that he had 
been seriously ill, which had not been mentioned before, as 
he had soon recovered. But while abroad, she had often 
told me that, from what she saw, she felt sure he had been 
very ill, although her letters had only alluded to a very 
slight indisposition. I cannot now ascertain whether this 
vision occurred precisely at, or before or after the time at 
which the child was so ill. It was certainly very near to 
the time. 

Case 70. — Major Buckley, twenty-three years ago, before 
he had heard of Animal Magnetism, was on the voyage be- 
tween England and India, when one day a lady remarked, 
that they had not seen a sail for many clays. He replied, 
that they would see one next day at noon, on the starboard 
bow. Being asked by the officers in the ship how he knew, 
he could only say that he saw it, and that it would happen. 
When the time came, the captain jested him on his predic- 
tion, when at that moment a man who had been sent aloft 
half an hour before, in consequence of the prophecy/ sung 
out, "A sail I" "Where ?" " On the starboard bow."— 
I consider this case interesting, because it tends to show a 
relation between magnetic power, which Major Buckley 
possesses in an eminent degree, and susceptibility to the 
magnetic or other influences concerned. The same combi- 
nation is found in Mr. Lewis, 



CURATIVE AGENCY OF ANIMAL MAGNETISM. 373 

Case 71.— A soldier in a Highland regiment, then in 
America, named Evan Campbell, was summoned before his 
officer for having spread among the men a prediction that a 
certain officer would be killed next day. He could only 
explain that he had seen a vision of it, and that he saw the 
officer killed, in the first onset, by a ball in the forehead. 
He was reprimanded, and desired to say no more about it. 
Next day, an engagement took place, and in the first attack 
the officer was killed by a ball in the forehead. I am told 
that this instance of second sight may be entirely de- 
pended on. 

The above cases are only a few out of many that might 
be adduced, and tend to show that, by some obscure means, 
certain persons, in a peculiar state, may have visions of 
events yet future. And indeed it is only by admitting some 
such influence, that we can at all account for the fulfilment 
of prophetic dreams, which, it cannot be doubted, has fre- 
quently taken place. Coincidence, as I have before re- 
marked, is insufficient to explain even one case, so enor- 
mously great are the chances against it ; but when several 
cases occur, it is absolutely out of the question to explain 
them by coincidence. 



LETTER XIX. 

Therapeutic Use of Animal Magnetism. 

This part of the subject may be considered under several 
heads. First, the use of Animal Magnetism in relieving 
pain and curing disease; secondly, its use in preventing 
pain in surgical operations; thirdly, the use of magnets, 
crystals, and other inanimate objects, as well as of magnet- 
ised water, or magnetised objects of any kind; and, lastly, 
the use of clairvoyance in diagnosis. My own experience 
in these matters is very limited indeed, so that I cannot 
enter into minute details ; but I have seen enough to con- 
vince me, that Animal Magnetism is a most powerful and 
valuable ally to the physician. I have already mentioned, 
that the persons magnetised by me have generally been 
32 



374 ME. ATKINSON'S LETTER 

healthy ; but I have also described one case, that of the 
blind Mr. H. W., in which, without intention on my part, I 
cured him of an obstinate and annoying discharge from the 
nose, by a few operations. A remarkable improvement 
also took place in his general health, insomuch that, after 
fifteen or twenty operations, his whole aspect was changed 
for the better, and his strength and spirits very much im- 
proved. At the same time, a slow but steady improvement 
in his eyesight has continued to appear, he having now, in 
about three months, been operated on nearly fifty times. 
It is, of course, impossible to say whether his sight will ever 
be restored ; but the results, up to the present time, are 
such as to yield some hope, and the state of the eye, ex- 
ternally, has certainly undergone a most marked change, 
so that it is now natural in color and moisture, which was 
not the case when I began. 

Every one who tries it will find that, by means of Ani- 
mal Magnetism, various pains, especially neuralgic and 
rheumatic pains, may be very often and easily relieved. 
Cases of this kind occur every day. You will find, in the 
Zoist, and in the foreign journals, innumerable cases re- 
corded, most of them by medical men, of cures effected by 
Animal Magnetism, and very often in cases which had baf- 
fled all other treatment. It appears that some individuals 
possess much greater curative virtue than others, although 
all healthy persons probably possess the power of curing in 
this way in a greater or less degree. The celebrated Valen- 
tine Greatrakes obviously possessed an unusual share of 
magnetic power ; but, at the present day, we have a remark- 
able instance of it in Mr. Capern, a gentleman of Devon- 
shire, who has just published a small work, giving an account 
of his magnetic practice. This work, which is a simple, 
unaffected statement of facts, is well worthy of perusal, and 
I cannot do better than refer you to it. I might quote also 
many other instances of magnetic cures, performed by per- 
sons known to me, and among them a large number by Mr. 
Lewis, whose power is very great; but my space forbids me 
to do this, and it would lead to a tedious repetition of de- 
tails. In connection with the use of Animal Magnetism as 
a curative agent, I prefer, therefore, to give some extracts 
from a communication kindly made to me by Mr. II. G. 
Atkinson, who not only has great magnetic power, but very 



ON MAGNETISM AS A CURE. S75 

great experience, and has studied the whole subject pro- 
foundly. It will be seen that his observations illustrate 
some very important points in magnetic treatment, and 
more particularly the very curious question of the trans- 
ference of pain or disease, Mr. A. described his first ex- 
periment on the conveyance of magnetic influence to a dis- 
tance, by means of inanimate objects, as follows: — 

Case 72* — ■" I was requested by a physician to try the 
effect of mesmerism on a lady who was suffering fearfully 
from tic, a complaint to which she had been subject for 
many years. The trial was most successful, but before a 
cure could be effected, the lady was obliged to go to Paris 
with her husband. Now, as my peculiar influence had so 
good an effect upon her, it seemed most desirable to continue 
the process, if possible ; and as I had already tested the 
fact, that mesmeric power could be conveyed by water, cot- 
ton, leather, and other substances, I suggested the plan of 
sending her mesmerised gloves by post to Paris. The experi- 
ment succeeded perfectly; the glove put on her hand always 
sent her into mesmeric sleep, and relieved her intense suf- 
fering, which all other means had wholly failed to do. The 
mesmerised glove by use gradually lost its property, and 
then failed to cause sleep, after a third time; so that I 
had to send newly mesmerised gloves every week, and the 
old ones were from time to time returned, to be charged 
afresh. This led to the observation of a very striking 
fact. I found that, before I could renew the healthy power, 
I had to remove the unhealthy influence or contagion, 
which the glove had absorbed from the patient. I felt in 
my hand, on approaching the old gloves, the same unpleasant 
sensations as I have from touching a diseased individual, be- 
sides absolute pain from the tic. The sensations were as 
clear and unmistakeable as those of heat from a flame, or of 
the roughness or smoothness of objects. The pain was the 
same in character as that of the patient. After I had mes- 
merised the glove for two or three minutes, the sensations 
ceased, and the glove was now cleansed from the influence it 
had absorbed and brought with it. The sensation now was 
the same as I have when I relieve pain by mesmerising ; 
when I can tell at once that the pain is relieved. I was in 
fact a complete mesmerometer, and had within myself the 
most convincing proof of the mesmeric fact, and of its rela- 



876 MR. ATKINSON OK 

tion to ordinary contagion. It might be supposed, that the' 
influence of the gloves on the patient was due only to the 
imagination; but I tested this, by sending sometimes un~ 
mesmerised gloves, and at other times such as had been used 
By the patient, without doing anything to them, and always 
found that the unmesmerized gloves had no effect, and the 
used gloves a most disagreeable one. I have made the ex- 
periment in a great many cases, and with the same results* 
The perception I had of pain and other states appeared at 
first very strange to me, as if it was a new sense ; but I soon 
became familiar with it, so that it ceased to attract notice. 
My patients used to try to deceive me as to their pains, but 
could never succeed, and they used to remark that I knew 
their sensations better than they did. When mesmerising 
nervous patients, I have felt a prickling sensation in my 
hand, but as soon as the sleep came on, I felt a slight shock, 
as it were; all disagreeable feelings ceased, and I experi- 
enced an agreeable influence in their place. On the occur- 
rence of any decided change in the patients, as from trance 
to somnambulism, I felt the same slight shock. I have found 
that one's own peculiar mesmeric power may be in a mea- 
sure conveyed to another, and also that the peculiar mes- 
meric state or sleep may be conveyed from one patient to 
another. This accounts for the occasional contagion of fits, 
and for such phenomena as the contagious preaching mania 
in Sweden. I have experienced the same sympathetic in- 
fluence as in the case of gloves, from letters, especially if the 
paper were glazed; and I could thus tell the state of the 
patient before reading the letter. Sometimes the* heat and 
prickling have been so strong, that I have- laid the letter on 
the table, to read without touching it. The influence from 
a feverish state would cause my hand to feel hot and fever- 
ish, even to others, the whole day. On one occasion, on 
reading a letter from a distance, I had the sensation of tears. 
It was so strong, that I felt sure the writer had been in tears 
while writing it, although nothing in the case, or in the let- 
ter, led to this conclusion. It proved, however, on enquiry, 
that the writer had been in tears, and that the tears had 
fallen on the paper. In one case, in which the patient, a 
lady, was too sensitive to be treated in the usual way, I gave 
her mesmerised water, which immediately caused her to sleep, 
and she was thus cured of sleeplessness. Once, when she 



TRANSFERENCE OF PAIN, 377 

sent for the water, I could not venture to mesmerise it, as I 
had just been mesmerising a diseased subject, so I sent or- 
dinary water, without any remark. In a few days, I re- 
ceived a note to say, that the water had lost its power, and 
no longer caused sleep. On one occasion I breathed a dream 
into a glove, which I sent to a lady ; the dream occurred. 
One of the ladies above mentioned, with her whole family, 
are sensitive to the approach of iron, which recals the facul- 
ty possessed by some, of discovering veins of ore, or springs 
of water under ground, I found that if, when engaged in 
mesmerising for pain, my mind was bent on what I was do- 
ing, I received little or no influence. I could at will either 
impress the patients, or absorb their condition. In either 
case, if the will was active, the influence never affected me 
beyond the hand used ; but if I were thinking of other things, 
I experienced the whole symptoms of the patients, so far as 
pain was concerned ; and I thus approached to the state of 
the somnambulist who detects the diseases of others. — The 
following is a remarkable instance of sympathy. I had mes- 
merised a young lady, who was living with my brother and 
sister, twenty miles from town. She proved an excellent 
clairvoyante. One Sunday I was walking with a lady, after 
church, in her garden, in St. John's Wood, when I found 
the dead body of a new-born infant, wrapped up in a clean 
cloth ; it must have been thrown over the wall. Next morn- 
ing I received a note from my sister, telling me that my 
patient had on the Sunday, after church, insisted on taking 
her all about the garden to look for a baby, because she was 
sure she should find one. Once when I had been mesmeris- 
ing the same young lady before a company, and was making 
a cross pass to wake her, a lady standing close by received 
the influence from my hand, and ran away screaming like 
one possessed. From that time, whenever I mesmerised my 
patient, which was at very uncertain times, when I could get 
away from London, this lady, living four miles off, fell into 
mesmeric sleep at the same time, and her case exhibited the 
same phenomena of clairvoyance. Two of my patients fell 
into a dead sleep or trance, so deep that I believe you might 
have cut them to pieces, and they would have felt nothing. 
No ordinary means could arouse them ; yet if a drop of 
water fell, even on their dress, it immediately set them a- 
trembling ; the touch of a piece of silver conyulsed them 



8T8 EFFECTS OF METALS. 

with laughter, which the touch of another metal instantly 
stopped. The trembling and laughing seemed wholly with- 
out consciousness, a kind of life in death, or merely spas- 
modic. I have seen and heard some patients writhe and 
groan and scream as if in agony, and yet on awaking declare 
they had had delightful dreams. Here a conscious and an 
unconscious state seem to exist together, so that the persons 
may be truly said to be beside themselves. One lady whom 
I know, suffers acutely from the contact of metals. She 
feels a pricking sensation, with general discomfort, and at 
times even sickness. A brass thimble caused her finger to 
swell, and she was forced to leave it off. She is compelled 
to eat with wooden spoons, and to use her handkerchief to 
open the door when the door-handle is of metal. This sen- 
sitiveness is not uncommon, and should be carefully attended 
to, as it may be the unsuspected cause of much suffering. 
In general, medical men pay no attention to such things, and 
call them nervous or hysterical, and thus save the trouble of 
investigation. Sir C. Bell said that the eternal answer of 
the indolent is, 'It is hysterical/ But supposing them hys- 
terical, what then ? They are not the less real nor the less 
interesting.' ' 

The above extracts contain a number of facts well worthy 
of consideration, in reference to the curative agency of Animal 
Magnetism ; and may serve to show how much there is for 
us to learn, and how much any of us might contribute to the 
advancement of knowledge in these obscure subjects, if we 
availed ourselves of our opportunities with the same zeal and 
the same patience as Mr. Atkinson. I ought to mention 
that Mr. A. is not a medical man, but has often generously 
devoted his time for weeks and months to the relief of suffer- 
ing ; and it is in this benevolent occupation that he has met 
with so many interesting facts, of which a few are briefly 
sketched above. It will be observed, that several of the 
facts above related tend to throw light on the propagation 
of disease by contagion, and if duly investigated, may lead 
to results of great importance. We may also see, in the very 
powerful effects produced by inanimate bodies, such as metals, 
a glimpse of the principle on which the effects of minute doses 
of medicines are produced in certain constitutions. It can- 
not be doubted, that in some cases the infinitesimal doses 
used in Homoeopathy do produce strong and marked effects, 
which cannot be explained on the ordinary principles of 



MAGNETS AND CRYSTALS. 379 

medicine; but we can see how, in susceptible subjects, not 
only a minute dose, but the mere approach of certain sub- 
stances, may have a decided action. Many persons in the 
magnetic sleep, or in a certain stage of it, exhibit a singular 
degree of sensitiveness to the influence of different sub- 
stances; and Reichenbach has proved that the same sensitive- 
ness, in various degrees, is found in many persons in the 
ordinary conscious state, so that, by feeling the substances, 
or even the bottles which contain them, these persons can 
infallibly distinguish one from the other. 

It is quite unnecessary to give details of cases concerning 
the possibility of magnetising water, and other substances, 
so that they shall act strongly on the susceptible. Nothing, 
as Reichenbach justly remarks, can more satisfactorily prove 
the existence of an influence, capable of being transferred 
from the hand of the operator to the patient, or to any sub- 
stance, than this simple, fundamental experiment. Any one 
may easily satisfy himself of the fact, as soon as he finds a 
case in which he can produce the magnetic sleep. 

As to the action of magnets, crystals, and metals, nume- 
rous cases occur, and are daily to be met with, in which pain 
is relieved by the contact or approach of these bodies. I 
know of one lady, subject to severe nervous headaches, who 
is relieved at once by holding in her hand a large crystal 
of fluor spar, which generally throws her into magnetic sleep. 
The effect is so well marked, that when she suffers, her chil- 
dren always beg her to use the crystal. But, in exact corres- 
pondence with what Reichenbach has observed, the position 
of the poles of the crystal must be reversed if it be shifted 
from one hand to the other. The action of magnets, and 
even of galvanic rings, in relieving rheumatic pains, is very 
far from being imaginary in many cases. It has been gene- 
rally rejected by medical men, because they could not explain 
it ; and it has been said, that since the galvanic rings could 
not cause a current of galvanic electricity, they could have 
no effect. But this is a non sequitur. Not only rings of 
two metals, but rings or other masses of one metal, often 
produce strong effects, relieve pain, and cause sleep ; as do 
magnets also ; and on the principles developed by Reichen- 
bach, they act, not by electricity, nor by ferro-magnetism, 
but by their odylic force. Instead of rejecting the facts, 
therefore, on theoretical grounds, or because we cannot ex- 
plain them, we ought rather to multiply our observations 



380 CLAIRVOYANT DIAGNOSIS. 

and from them, in process of time, deduce our theory or ex- 
planation. 

With regard to the use of Animal Magnetism or clair- 
voyance in diagnosis, I have already given several instances 
of it, and from what I have seen, I am satisfied that, with 
a good subject, much may be done in this way. Did my 
space permit, I could give very many instances, in the prac- 
tice of others, in which the clairvoyant, either by contact 
with the patient, or with the aid of his hair or handwriting 
at a distance, has most accurately described the whole 
symptoms, and often has detected the true, though unsus- 
pected cause of these. As my space, however, is exhausted, 
I shall only quote one recent case, very briefly. 

Case 73. — Count K., a Polish nobleman, gave me the 
address of a letter in the handwriting of a cousin of his, a 
Polish lady, living in Poland, whom I had never seen. He 
only knew that she was ill, but not the details of her illness. 
I sent the writing to Dr. Haddock, and requested him to 
try E. with it. She soon saw the lady, and described her, 
and went on to say that she was ill, and had been using 
mineral waters for her health. She described minutely the 
symptoms, w T hich it is unnecessary to repeat here. Count 
K. sent the account to his cousin, and in her answer she 
states, that every thing the clairvoyant had said was exact, 
save that she did not think herself quite so weak as she 
appeared to the clairvoyant to be. It is very likely that 
the terms used may have been somewhat misunderstood on 
such a point, as they passed through several hands and two 
languages; but the symptoms were strikingly accurate. 
E. also gave her view of the cause of illness, but into that I 
do not enter, as it cannot be ascertained with certainty. 
But it is needless to point out the value of such a power, in 
obscure cases, when employed by a well-informed physician, 
and when the clairvoyant is found by experience to be 
trustworthy. 

For some remarks on the use of magnetism in Insanity, 
I am compelled, by want of space, to refer to what is said 
at pp. 204 et seq. 



I had collected a number of cases to illustrate the thera- 
peutic action of Animal Magnetism, but I find I must omit 
them. This I do with the less regret, that this branch of 



THERAPEUTIC ACTION, 381 

the subject is sure to be worked out by many persons, while 
the works of Dr. Esdale and Mr. Capern, besides others, 
and the long lists of cases published in the Zoist by Dr. El- 
liotson, and many other medical men, as well as in the 
foreign Journals, has sufficiently established the great value 
and importance of magnetic treatment. Moreover, the 
cases which I had collected being from the practice of 
others, and very much of the same character as the pub- 
lished cases, would merely have added to the size of the 
work, without the advantage of any thing new. No one 
who has attended to the subject can doubt the value of 
Animal Magnetism as a therapeutic agent, and for the pre- 
sent we must admit this application of Animal Magnetism 
to be the most important, and to be worthy of the attentive 
study of medical men. 

Dr. Esdaile's admirable work on Mesmerism in India, has 
firmly established the value of Animal Magnetism as a 
means of preventing pain during surgical operations ; it has 
also been used extensively for that purpose, both in this 
country and in France. The fact, recently demonstrated 
here, to the satisfaction of many medical and scientific men 
by Mr. Lewis and by Dr. Darling, that complete insensi- 
bility to pain, either general or local, may be produced in 
many persons in the conscious state, will tend to dissipate 
the incredulity which still lingers in some quarters as to 
the possibility of rendering patients insensible to pain by 
magnetism, even although some should still persist in as- 
cribing the result to the imagination. In the conscious state 
it is certainly done by suggestion, but it is also, without any 
suggestion whatever, a frequent feature of the magnetic 
sleep. The essential point is, that such a state can be pro- 
duced in various ways, and this can no longer be doubted by 
any one who has examined the subject. I have myself 
often seen it produced by others, and also produced it my- 
self, both in the conscious state and in the magnetic sleep. 
In fact, this was done, in many instances, long before the 
powers of ether and chloroform were discovered ; and although 
at that time many at once rejected the alleged fact, with- 
out enquiry, who afterwards at once admitted the correspond- 
ing fact in regard to ether, the evidence for both is, and 
always was, the same in kind. The only difference is, that 
in the case of ether, the existence of a drug, a tangible 
agent, is supposed by many to enable us to understand or 



382 INSENSIBILITY TO PAIN. 

explain the result, while, because in the magnetic power 
the agent is not tangible, they reject the fact. Nothing 
can be more illogical ; for in the case of ether or chloro- 
form, we only know that they act, but not how they act, which 
no one can explain ; and in the case of magnetism, whether 
we can explain it or not, the fact is equally certain. Be- 
sides, the magnetic sleep and insensibility to pain may be 
produced by means as tangible as ether, namely, by mag- 
nets, crystals, and other bodies, such as magnetised water. 
The following case will show, in addition to those already 
given, that in susceptible persons, ether or chloroform may 
be dispensed with, and the full effect produced by sug- 
gestion. The experiment was performed in my house, in 
the presence of Sir D. Brewster and Sir W. C. Trevelyan, 
besides others. 

Case 74. — Mr. B., a student of medicine, was found to be 
easily thrown either into the magnetic sleep, or the con- 
scious impressible state, by Mr. Lewis. Mr. L., when the 
patient was quite conscious, gave him a handkerchief mois- 
tened with ordinary water, and told him that it was chloro- 
form, and that he was to breathe it, and to become uncon- 
scious and insensible to pain. Although Mr. B. knew it to 
be water, he could not resist the suggested impression; he 
breathed exactly as one does with chloroform, and in about 
a minute became unconscious, when he was found utterly 
insensible to pain. On waking, he had no recollection of 
what had passed. Some time afterwards, he put the wet 
handkerchief in his pocket, and as long it remained there, 
he fell asleep every few minutes till Mr. Lewis removed it, 
when that effect ceased. Nothing can show more strongly 
the power of suggestion in certain states. 

On the same evening I had occasion to observe a fact, 
which is of some importance, as showing that causes, hither- 
to unsuspected, may interfere with our experiments. 

Case 75. — There were present on that evening, in all, ten 
persons, including Sir D. Brewster, Sir Walter C. Trevel- 
yan, Mr. B., Mr. Lewis, Mr. H. W., the blind German for- 
merly mentioned, and myself, besides four ladies. Mr. H. 
W., whom I was then in the habit of magnetising daily in 
the forenoon, told me, a few minutes after he entered the 
room, that he felt the influence of Mr. Lewis very strongly, 
and soon afterwards, while Mr. L. was trying to put Mr. 
B. to sleep in the front room, Mr. W., who was engaged in 



THE INFLUENCE TRANSFERRED. 383 

conversation in the back room, fell asleep. At the same 
time, Mr. B., who had gone into the sleep, suddenly awoke. 
Mr. L. then showed his power of controlling the muscular 
motions of Mr. B., which he did for a time very completely, 
but all at once Mr. B. said, " I feel that you have no longer 
any power over me;" and at the same instant M. W., who 
was now nearer than before, fell into a deep magnetic sleep. 
Mr. L. was not aware of his having previously fallen asleep, 
and had not thought of affecting him ; but it appeared as if 
he, being more susceptible, had twice carried off the influ- 
ence from Mr. B., without knowing it. But this was not 
all ; for it soon appeared, that all the four ladies were more 
or less affected, although Mr. L. had never tried to affect 
them. It was proposed that he should put one of the ladies 
fully to sleep, with the view of then awaking her, and thus 
removing her unpleasant sensations. This she declined ; 
but Mr. L., at my request, tried to put her to sleep by silent 
volition. This had just begun to act, when Mr. B. came, 
not knowing what was going on, and sat down, nearer to Mr. 
L. than the lady ; and almost instantly he fell asleep. The 
lady then allowed Mr. L. to put her to sleep, which he did, 
and then awoke her, now free from all unpleasant sensa- 
tions; but as she awoke, Mr. B. again fell asleep. Another 
lady was then put to sleep, and was soon in a very deep 
sleep ; but when I, observing M. B. asleep, spoke to him, 
and, finding that he would not answer me, took hold of his 
hand, he suddenly awoke, and at the same instant the sleep- 
ing lady, about 14 feet off, suddenly awoke also. All this 
was before the handkerchief w T as tried; and it plainly showed, 
that where a powerful magnetiser is in the same room with 
several susceptible persons, the results are very apt to be 
very much confused, and experiments may fail which WT>uid 
succeed perfectly if only one susceptible subject were present. 



I must now conclude, and I would do so by once more 
pointing out, that my object has not been to explain the 
facts I have described, but rather to show that a large num- 
ber of facts exist, which require explanation, but which 
never can be explained, unless we study them. I am quite 
content that any theoretical suggestions I have made should 
be thrown aside as quite unimportant, provided only the facts 
be attended to; because I consider it too early for a com- 



884 SUMMARY. 

prehensive theory, and because I believe that the facts are 
as yet but very partially known. 

But I think we may regard it as established; first, that 
one individual may exercise a certain influence on another, 
even at a distance ; secondly, that one individual may ac- 
quire a control over the motions, sensations, memory, emo- 
tions, and volition of another, both by suggestion, in the 
conscious, impressible state, and in the magnetic sleep, with 
or without suggestion; thirdly, that the magnetic sleep is a 
very peculiar state, with a distinct and separate conscious- 
ness ; fourthly, that in this state, the subject often possesses 
a new power of perception, the nature of which is unknown, 
but by means of which he can see objects or persons, near 
or distant, without the use of the external organs of vision ; 
fifthly, that he very often possesses a very high degree of 
sympathy with others, so as to be able to read their thoughts ; 
sixthly, that by these powers of clairvoyance and sympathy, 
he can sometimes perceive and describe, not only present, 
but past, and even future events; seventhly, that he can 
often perceive and describe the bodily state of himself or 
others ; eighthly, that he may fall into trance and extasis, 
the period of which he often predicts accurately ; ninthly, 
that every one of these phenomena has occurred, and fre- 
quently occurs, spontaneously, which I hold to be the funda- 
mental fact of the w T hole enquiry; Somnambulism, Clair- 
voyance, Sympathy, Trance, Extasis, Insensibility to pain, 
and Prevision, having often been recorded as natural occur- 
rences. Tenthly, that not only the human body, but inani- 
mate objects, such as magnets, crystals, metals, &c. &c, 
exert on sensitive persons an influence, identical, so far as it 
is known, with that which produces Animal Magnetism ; that 
such an influence really exists, because it may act without 
a shadow of suggestion, and may be transferred to water 
and other bodies; and lastly, that it is only by studying the 
characters of this influence, as we should those of any other, 
such as Electricity or Light, that we can hope to throw 
light on these obscure subjects. Let us in the meantime 
observe and accumulate facts ; and whether we succeed or 
not in tracing these to their true causes, the facts, if well 
observed, -und faithfully recorded, will remain, and in a 
more advanced state of science, will lead to a true and 
comprehensive theory. 

THE END. 



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A DICTIONARY OF MODERN GARDENING. By G. W. Johnson, Esq. 
With numerous Additions, by David Landreth. With one hundred and eighty 
wood-cuts. In one very large royal 12mo. volume, of about 650 double- 
columned pages. This work is now offered at a very low price. 



THE YOUNG MILLWRIGHT AND MILLER'S GUIDE. By Oliver Evans. 
With Additions and Corrections by Thomas P. Jones; and a Description of an 
Improved Merchant Flour-Mill, by C. and 0. Evans. With twenty-eight 
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ACTON'S MODERN COOKERY, in all its Branches, reduded to a System 
of Easy Practice. Edited by Mrs. S. J. Hale. In one neat royal 12mo. 
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THOMSON'S DOMESTIC MANAGEMENT OF THE SICK-ROOM. With 
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WILSON ON HEALTHY SKIN, (Now Ready.) 

HEALTHY SKIN; a Popular Treatise on the Management of the Skin 

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NEW AND IMPROVED EDITION. 

LIVES OF THE QUEENS OF ENGLAND, 

FROM THE NORMAN CONQUEST. With Anecdotes of their Courts. 
Now first published from Official Records, and other Authentic Documents, 
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Agnes Strickland. In six volumes, crown octavo, extra crimson cloth, or 
half morocco, printed on fine paper and large type. Copies of the Duodecimo 
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A valuable contribution to historical knowledge, to young persona especially. It contains 
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collect. 'We have derived much entertainment and instruction from the work. — Athenaeum. 

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A charming work — full of interest, at once serious and pleasing.— Monsieur Guizot. 

TO BE HAD SEPARATE. 

LIVES OF THE QUEENS OF HENRY VIIL, and of his mother, Elizabeth 

of York. By Miss Strickland. Complete in one handsome crown octavo 

volume, extra cloth. (Just Issued.) 
MEMOIRS OF ELIZABETH, Second Queen Regnant of England and Ireland. 

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cloth. (Just Issued.) 



INGERSOLL'S HISTORY OF THE LATE WAR. In two octavo volumes — 
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MRS. MARSH'S ROMANTIC HISTORY OF THE HUGONOTS. In two 

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KXEBUHR'S ANCIENT HISTORY. 

LECTURES ON ANCIENT HISTORY; from the Earliest Times to the 
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PRINCIPLES OF THE MECHANICS 

OF MACHINERY AND ENGINEERING. By Professor Julius Weisbach. 
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CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY; 

OR, CHEMISTRY APPLIED TO THE ARTS AND TO MANUFACTURES. 
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GRAHAM'S ELEMENTS OF CHEMISTRY J 

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THE LAWS OF HEALTH IN RELATION TO MIND AND BODY. A 
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4 BLANCHARD & LEA'S PUBLICATIONS.— (Miscellaneous.) 

NARRATIVE OF THE UNITED STATES' EXPEDITION 
TO THE DEAD SEA AND RIVER JORDAN. 

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In one very large and handsome octavo volume, "with twenty-eight beautiful. 
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This hook, so long and anxiously expected, fully sustains the hopes of the most sanguine 
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DON QUIXOTE DE LA MANCHA. Translated from the Spanish of Miguel 
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The handsome execution of this work, the numerous spirited illustrations with 
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PICCIOLA, THE PRISONER OF FENESTRELLA; or, Captivity Captive. 
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THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS, with Illustrative Poetry. To which are 
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HALE'S ETHNOGRAPHY AND PHILOLOGY OF THE U. S. EXPLORING 
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DANA ON ZOOPHYTES. Being part of the publications of the United States 
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JOHNSTON'S PHYSICAL ATLAS. 

THE PHYSICAL ATLAS OF NATURAL PHENOMENA, for the Use of 
Colleges, Academies, and Families. By Alexander Keith Johnston, 
F.R.G.S., &c. In one large imperial quarto volume, strongly and handsomely 
bound in half morocco. With twenty-six Plates, engraved and colored in the 
best style, together with over one hundred pages of descriptive letter-press, and 
a very copious Index. 

A work which should be in every family and every school-room, for consultation 
and reference. By the ingenious arrangement adopted by the author, it makes 
clear to the eye every fact and observation relative to the present condition of the 
earth, arranged under the departments of Geology, Hydrography, Meteorology, 
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nowhere else to be found condensed into the same space; while a very full Index 
renders the whole easy of reference. 



BLANCHARD & LEA'S PUBLICATIONS.— {Scientific.) 5 

Now Kea&y, 
PRINCIPLES OF COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY. 

BY W. B. CARPENTER, M.D., F.R.S, <fcc. 
A new American, from the Fourth and revised London Edition. In one large 

and handsome octavo volume, of 750 pages, with 309 beautiful illustrations. 

The present edition of this work will be found in every way worthy of its high 
reputation as the standard text-book on this subject. Thoroughly revised and 
brought up by the author to the latest date of scientific investigation, and illus- 
trated with a profusion of new and beautiful engravings, it has been printed in 
the most careful manner, and forms a volume which should be in the possession • 
of every student of natural history. 

By the same author (Just Issued), 

ON THE USE AND ABUSE OF ALCOHOLIC LIQUORS IN HEALTH 
AND DISEASE. In one neat royal 12mo. volume, extra cloth. Also, in flexi- 
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BUSHNAN'S POPULAR PHYSIOLOGY. (Now Ready.) 

THE PRINCIPLES OF ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE PHYSIOLOGY, A 

Popular Treatise on the Functions and Phenomena of Organic Life. 

To which is prefixed an Essay on the Great Departments of Human Knowledge. 

By J. Stevenson Bushnan, M.D. In one handsome royal 12mo. volume, with 

over one hundred illustrations. 

Though cast in a simple and unpretending form, this little work is based upon 
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this subject in their course of studies. 

OWEN ON THE SKELETON AND TEETH. (Now Ready.) 
THE PRINCIPAL FORMS OF THE SKELETON AND OF THE TEETH. 

By Professor R. Owen, author of ". Comparative Anatomy," &q. In one 
handsome royal 12mo. volume, extra cloth, with numerous illustrations. 
Written as a popular introduction to his favourite science, by the most distin- 
guished osteologist of the age, this work cannot fail to find favour with all stu- 
dents of Geology, Zoology, and Comparative Anatomy, of which its subject may 
be considered as the foundation. 



DE LA BECHE'S GEOLOGY. 

THE GEOLOGICAL OBSERVER. By Sir Henry T. De la Beche, F.R.S., 

&c. In one large and handsome octavo volume, with over 300 illustrations. 



ABEL AND BLOXAM'S CHEMISTRY. (Now Ready.) 
A HAND-BOOK OF CHEMISTRY, THEORETICAL, PRACTICAL, AND 
TECHNICAL. By F. A. Abel and C. L. Bloxam. In one large and hand- 
some octavo volume, of over 650 pages, with numerous illustrations. 
The department of theoretical chemistry has been amply elucidated in many 
late publications, but a want has been felt of a work which should afford a guide 
to the practical student in the numerous and complicated processes required in 
the laboratory, while the operative chemist has had no recent manual detailing 
the new and valuable improvements which are daily being made. It has been 
the aim of the authors to supply this vacancy, and the applause which their labours 
have received from competent judges is a sufficient evidence of their success. 

principles of physics and meteorology. 

By Professor J. Muller. Revised, and illustrated with over five hundred 
engravings on wood, and two handsome coloured plates. In one large and 
beautiful octavo volume of nearly 650 pages. 



6 BLANCHARD & LEA'S PUBLICATIONS.— (Educational.) 

NOW COMTLETE. 

HANDBOOKS OF NATURAL PHILOSOPHY AND ASTRONOMY. 

BY DIONYSIU3 LARDNER, D.C.L., 

Formerly Professor of Natural Philosophy and Astronomy in University College, London. 

This valuable Series is now complete, consisting of three Courses, as follows : — 
FIRST COURSE, 

MECHANICS, HYDROSTATICS, HYDRAULICS, PNEUMATICS, SOUND, & OPTICS, 

In one large royal 12mo. volume, of 750 pages, with 424 Illustrations. 
SECOND COURSE, 

HEAT, MAGNETISM, COMMON ELECTRICITY, AND VOLTAIC ELECTRICITY, 

In one royal 12mo. volume, of 450 pages, with 244 Illustrations. 
THIRD COURSE, 

ASTRONOMY AND METEOROLOGY. 

In one very large royal 12mo. volume, of nearly 800 pages, with 37 Plates, and 

over 200 Illustrations. 

These volumes can be had either separately or in uniform sets, containing about 
2000 pages, and nearly 1000 Illustrations on steel and wood. 

To accommodate those who desire separate treatises on the leading departments 
of Natural Philosophy, the First Course may also be had, divided in three por- 
tions, viz : 

Parti. Mechanics. — Part II. Hydrostatics, Hydraulics, Pneumatics, 
and Sound. — Part III. Optics. 

It will thus be seen that this work furnishes either a complete course of instruc- 
tion on these subjects, or separate treatises on all the different branches of Physical 
Science. The object of the author has been to prepare a work suited equally for 
the collegiate, academical, and private student, who may desire to acquaint him- 
self with the present state of science, in its most advanced condition, without pur- 
suing it through its mathematical consequences and details. Great industry has 
been manifested throughout the work to elucidate the principles advanced by their 
practical applications to the wants and purposes of civilized life, a task to which 
Dr. Lardner's immense and varied knowledge, and his singular felicity and clear- 
ness of illustration render him admirably fitted. This peculiarity of the work 
recommends it especially as the text-book for a practical age and country such as 
ours, as it interests the student's mind, by showing him the utility of his studies, 
while it directs his attention to the further extension of that utility by the fulness 
of its examples. Its extensive adoption in many of our most distinguished col- 
leges and seminaries is sufficient proof of the skill with which the author's inten- 
tions have been carried out. 



BIRD'S NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 

ELEMENTS OF NATURAL PHILOSOPHY; being an Experimental Intro- 
duction to the Physical Sciences. Illustrated with over 300 wood-cuts. By 
Golding Bird, M.D., Assistant Physician to Guy's Hospital. From the Third 
London edition. In one neat volume, royal 12mo. 

We are astonished to find that there is room in so small a hook for even the hare recital 
of so many subjects. Where everything is treated succinctly, great judgment and much 
time are needed in making a selection and winnowing the wheat from the chaff. Dr. Bird 
has no need to plead the peculiarity of his position as a shield against criticism, so long as 
his hook continues to he the test epitome in the English language of this wide range of 
physical subjects. — North American Review. 

For those desiring as extensive a work, I think it decidedly superior to anything of the 
kind with which I am acquainted.— Prof. John Johnston, Wesleyan Univ., Middletovm, Ct. 



AKNOT'S ELEMENTS OE PHYSICS. 
ELEMENTS OF PHYSICS; or, Natural Philosophy, General and Medical, 
written for Universal Use in Plain or Non-technical Language. By Neil 
Arnot, M.D. In one octavo volume, with about two hundred Illustrations. 



BLANCHARD & LEA'S PUBLICATIONS.— (Educational) 1 

A COMPLETE COURSE OF NATURAL SCIENCE. (Just issued.) 

THE BOOK OF NATURE 

An Elementary Introduction to the Sciences of Physics, Astronomy, Chemistry, 
Mineralogy, Geology, Botany, Zoology, and Physiology. By Frederick 
Schcedler, Ph. D., Professor of the Natural Sciences at Worms. First Ame- 
rican Edition, with a Glossary, and other Additions and Improvements. From 
the Second English Edition, translated from the Sixth German Edition, by 
Henry Medlock, FrC.S., &c. Illustrated by 679 engravings on wood. In one 
handsome volume, crown octavo, of about 700 large pages, extra cloth. 

To accommodate those who desire to use the separate portions of this work, the 
publishers have prepared an edition in parts, as follows, which may be had 
singly, by mail or otherwise, neatly done up in flexible cloth. 

NATURAL PHILOSOPHY 114 pages, with 149 Illustrations. 

ASTRONOMY 64 " 51 

CHEMISTRY 110 " 48 " 

MINERALOGY AND GEOLOGY 104 " 167 " 

BOTANY 98 « 176 " 

ZOOLOGY AND PHYSIOLOGY 106 « 84 " 

INTRODUCTION, GLOSSARY, INDEX, Ac. 96 

As a work for popular instruction in the Natural and Physical Sciences, it certainly is 
unrivalled, so far as my knowledge extends. It admirably combines perspicuity with bre- 
vity; while an excellent judgment and a rare discrimination are manifest in the selection 
and arrangement of topics, as well as in the description of objects, the illustration of phe- 
nomena, and the statement of principles. A more careful perusal of those departments of 
the work to which my studies have been particularly directed has been abundantly sufficient 
to satisfy me of its entire reliableness — that the object of the author was not so much to 
amuse as really to instruct. — Prof. Allen, Oberlin Institute, Ohio. 

I do not know of another book in which so much that is important on these subjects can 
be found in the same space. — Prof. Johnston, Wesley an University, Conn. 

Though a very comprehensive book, it contains about as much of the details of natural 
science as general students in this country have time to study in a regular academical 
course; and I am so well pleased with it that I shall recommend its use as a text-book in 
this institution. — W. H. Allen, President of Girard College, Philadelphia. 

I am delighted with Dr. Pchoedler's " Book of Nature ;" its tone of healthful piety and 
reverence for God's word add a charm to the learning and deep research which the volume 
everywhere manifests.— Prof. J. A. Spencer, N. T. 



BROWNE'S CLASSICAL LITERATURE. (Now Complete.) 

A HISTORY OF GREEK CLASSICAL LITERATURE. 

BY THE REV. R. W. BROWNE, M.A., 

Professor of Classical Literature in King's College, London. 
In one very handsome crown octavo volume. 



By the same Author, to match. (Now ready.) 

A HISTORY OF ROMAN CLASSICAL LITERATURE. 

In one very handsome crown octavo volume. 

These two volumes form a complete course of Classical Literature, designed 
either for private reading or for collegiate text-books. Presenting, in a moderate 
compass and agreeable style, the results of the most recent investigations of 
English and continental scholars, it gives, in a succession of literary biographies 
and criticisms, a body of information necessary to all educated persons, and which 
cannot elsewhere be found in so condensed and attractive a shape. 



8 BLANCHARD & LEA'S PUBLICATIONS.— (Educational.) 

New and muck improved Edition.— (Lately Issued.) 

PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 

BY MARY SOMERVILLE. 

A new American, from the third and revised London edition. 

WITH NOTES AND A GLOSSARY, 

BY W. S. W. RUSCHEXBERGER, M.D., U. S. Navy. 
In one large royal 12mo. volume, of nearly six hundred pages. 

The subject of Physical Geography is one of which the acknowledged import- 
ance is rapidly forcing its introduction into all systems of education which pretend 
to keep themselves on a level with the improvements and requirements of the 
age. It is no longer considered sufficient to drill the scholar into a mechanical 
knowledge of the names of rivers and mountains, and the territorial divisions of 
the earth's surface. A want is now felt of an acquaintance with the structure of 
the globe, externally and internally, and of the causes and effects of the variations 
of land and water, forest and desert, heat and cold, tides, currents, rain, wind, 
and all the other physical phenomena occurring around us, which have so direct 
and immense an influence upon the human race. This is all summed up in 
"Physical Geography," which may be regarded as the resume" of all that is known 
on the natural history and present state of the earth and its inhabitants — the 
practical application of the principles which are elucidated by the minute investi- 
gations of the scientific observer. This vast and interesting subject has been suc- 
cessfully grappled by Mrs. Somerville, who in the present volume has set forth, 
in a picturesque and vivid style, a popular yet condensed account of the globe, in 
its relations with the Solar System; its geological forces ; its configuration and 
divisions into land and water, mountain, plain, river, and lake; its meteorology, 
mineral productions, vegetation, and animal life ; estimating and analyzing the 
causes at work, and their influence on plants, animals, and mankind. A study 
such as this, taken in conjunction with ordinary political geography, lends to the 
latter an interest foreign to the mere catalogue of names and boundaries, and, in 
addition to the vast amount of important information imparted, tends to impress 
the whole more strongly on the mind of the student. 

Eulogy is unnecessary with regard to a work like the present, which has passed 
through three editions, on each side of the Atlantic, within the space of a few 
3 r ears. The publishers therefore onl} 7 consider it necessary to state that the last 
London edition received a thorough revision at the hands of the author, who in- 
troduced whatever improvements and corrections the advance of science rendered 
desirable ; and that the present issue, in addition to this, has had a careful exami- 
nation on the part of the editor, to adapt it more especially to this country. Great 
care has been exercised in both the text and the glossary to obtain the accuracy 
so essential to a work of this nature; and in its present improved and enlarged 
state, with no corresponding increase of price, it is confidently presented as in 
every way worthy of a continuation of the striking favor with which it has been 
everywhere received. 



BUTLER'S ANCIENT ATLAS. 

AX ATLAS OF AXCIEXT GEOGRAPHY. By Samuel Butler, D.D., late 
Lord Bishop of Litchfield. In one handsome octavo volume, containing twenty- 
one coloured quarto Maps, and an accentuated Index. 

The very low price at which this work is now offered, and the authoritative ^ 
position which it has so long maintained, render it a very desirable reference 
book for all institutions where this branch of study is pursued. 



BUTLER'S ANCIENT GEOGRAPHY. 

GEOGRAPHIA CLASSICA ; or, The Application of Ancient Geography to 
the Classics. By Samuel Butler, D.D., late Lord Bishop of Litchfield. 
Sixth American, from the last and revised London edition. In one neat royal 
12mo. volume, half bound. 



BLANCHARD & LEA'S PUBLICATIONS.— (Educational) 9 

Now Complete. 

SCHM1TZ AND ZUMPT'S CLASSICAL SERIES. 

By the completion of this series, the classical student is now in possession of a 
thorough and uniform course of Latin instruction, on a definite system. Besides 
the advantages which these works possess in their typographical accuracy and 
careful adaptation to educational purposes, the exceedingly low price at which 
they are offered is a powerful argument in favor of their general introduction, as 
removing a barrier to the general diffusion of classical education in the size and 
costliness of the text-books heretofore in use. 

The series consists of the following volumes, clearly and handsomely printed, 
on good paper, in a uniform large 18nio. size, strongly and neatly bound, and 
accompanied with notes, historical and critical introductions, maps, and other 
illustrations. 

Scemitz's Elementary Latin Grammar and Exercises, extra cloth, price $0.50 
Kaltschmidt's School Latin Dictionary, in two Parts, Latin-English, 

and English-Latin, nearly 900 pages, strongly bound in leather $1.30 

Part I., Latin-English, about 500 pages, " ' " " \ 90 

Part II., English-Latin, nearly 400 pages, " " " , 75 

Schmitz's Advanced Latin Grammar, 318 pages, half bound, .GO 

Advanced Latin Exercises, with selections for Reading, extra cloth, .50 
Cornelii Nepotis Liber de Excellentibus Ducibus, &c, extra cloth, .50 

Cjesaris de Bello Gallico, Libri IV., 232 pages, extra cloth, .50 

C C. Sallustii Catilina et Jugurtha, 168 pages, extra cloth, .50 

Excerpta ex P. Ovidii Nasonis Carminibus, 246 pages, extra cloth, .60 

Q. Curtii Run de Alexandri Magni Qu^i Supersunt, 326 pp., ex. cloth, .70 

P. Virgilii Maronis Carmina, 438 pages, extra cloth, .75 

Eclogue ex Q. Horatii Flacci Poematibus, 312 pages, extra cloth, .60 

T. Livii Patavini Kistoriarum Libri I. II. XXI. XXII., 350 pp., ex. cloth, .70 

M. T. Ciceronis Orationes Selects XII., 300 pages, extra cloth, .60 

Also, uniform with the Series, 
Baird's Classical Manual of Ancient Geography, Anti- 
quities, Chronology, &c, extra cloth, .50 

The volumes in cloth can also be had, strongly half-bound in leather, with cloth 
sides, at an extra charge of five cents per volume. 

The very numerous recommendations of this series from classical teachers of the 
highest standing, and their adoption in many of our best academies and colleges, 
sufficiently manifest that the efforts of the editors and publishers have not been 
unsuccessful in supplying a course of classical study suited to the wants of the 
age, and adapted to the improved modern systems of education. 

With your Classical Series I am well acquainted, and have no hesitancy in recommending 
them to all my friends. In addition to your Virgil, which Ave use, we shall probably adopt 
other books of the series as we may have occasion to introduce them. — Prof. J. J. Owen, 
N. Y. Free Academy. 

I regard this series of Latin text-books as decidedly superior to any others with which I 
am acquainted. The Livy and Horace I shall immediately introduce for the use of the 
college classes. — Prof. A. Rollins, Delaware College. 

Haying examined several of them with some degree of care, we have no hesitation in pro- 
nouncing them among the very best extant. — Prof. A. C. Knox, Hanover College, Indiana. 

I can give you no better proof of the value which I set on them than by making use of 
them in my owu classes, and recommending their use in the preparatory department of our 
institution. I have read them through carefully, that I might not speak of them without 
due examination ; and I flatter myself that my opinion is fully borne out by fact, when 1 
pronounce them to be the most useful and the most correct, as well as the cheapest editions 
of Latin Classics ever introduced in this country. The Latin and English Dictionary con- 
tains as much as the student can want in the earlier years of his course; it contains more 
than I have ever seen compressed into a book of this kind. It ought to be the student's 
constant companion in his recitations. It has the extraordinary recommendation of being 
at once portable and comprehensive. — Prof R. N. Newell, Masonic College, Tenn. 

That invaluable little work, the Classical Manual, has been used by me for some time. I 
would not, on any account, be without it. You have not perhaps been informed that it has 
recently been introduced in the High School of this place. Its typographical accuracy is 
remarkable.— Reginald H. Cliase, Harvard University. 



10 BLANCHARD k LEA'S PUBLICATIONS.— (gducationaj.) 

Shaw's English Literature— Lately Published. 
OUTLINES OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 

By Thomas B. Shaw, Professor of English Literature in the Imperial Alexander 
Lyceum, St. Petersburg, Second American Edition. With a Sketch of Ame- 
rican Literature, by Henry T. Tlckeuman, Esq. In one large and handsome 
volume, royal 12mo., of about five hundred pages. 

The object of this work is to present to the student, within a moderate compass, 
a clear and connected view of the history and productions of English Literature. 
To accomplish this, the author has followed its course from the earliest times to 
the present age, seizing upon the more prominent "Schools of Writing," tracing 
their causes and effects, and selecting the more celebrated authors as subjects for 
brief biographical and critical sketches, analyzing their best works, and thus pre- 
senting to the student a definite view of the development of the language and 
literature, with succinct descriptions of those books and men of which no educated 
person should be ignorant. He has thus not only supplied the acknowledged 
want of a manual on this subject, but by the liveliness and power of his style, the 
thorough knowledge he displays of* his topic, and the variety of his subjects, he 
has succeeded in producing a most agreeable reading-book, which will captivate 
the mind of the scholar, and relieve the monotony of drier studies. 

Its merits I bad not now for the first time to learn. I have used it for two years as a text- 
book, with the greatest satisfaction. It was a hnppy conception, admirably executed. It is 
all that a text>book on such a subject can or need be, comprising a judicious selection of 
materials, easily yet effectively wrought. The author attempts just as much as he ought to, 
and does well all that he attempts; and the best of the book is the genial spirit, the genuine 
love of genius and its works which thoroughly pervades it and makes it just what you want 
to put into a pupil's hands. — Professor J. V. PaymoniL University of Rochester. 

Of " Shaw's English Literature"' I can hardly say too much in praise. I hope its adoption 
and use as a text-book will correspond to its great merits. — Prof J. C. Pickard, III. College. 



BOLMAR'S COMPLETE FRENCH SERIES. 

Blanchard and Lea now publish the whole of Bulmar's Educational Works, form- 
ing a complete series for the acquisition of the French language, as follows : 

BOLMAR'S EDITION OF LEVIZAC'S THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL 
GRAMMAR OF THE FRENCH LANGUAGE. With numerous Corrections 
and Improvements, and the addition of a complete Treatise on the Genders of 
French Nouns and the Conjugation of the French Verbs, Regular and Irregu- 
lar. Thirtv-fifth edition. In one 12mo. volume, leather. 

BOLMAR'S 'COLLECTION OF COLLOQUIAL PHRASES, on every topic 
necessary to maintain conversation ; arranged under different heads; with nu- 
merous remarks on the peculiar pronunciation and use of various words. The 
whole so disposed as considerably to facilitate the acquisition of a correct pro- 
nunciation of the French. In one ISmo. volume, half bound. 

BOLMAR'S EDITION OF FENELON'S AVENTURES DE TELEMAQUE. 
In one 12mo. volume, half bound. 

BOLMAR'S KEY TO THE FIRST EIGHT BOOKS OF TELEMAQUE, for 
the literal and free translation of French into English. In one 12mo. volume, 
half bound. 

BOLMAR'S SELECTION OF ONE HUNDRED OF PERRIN'S FABLES, 
accompanied with a Key, containing the text and a literal and a free transla- 
tion, arranged in such a manner as to point out the difference between the 
French and the English idiom; also, a figured pronunciation of the French. 
The whole preceded by a short treatise on the Sounds of the French language 
as compared with those of English. In one 12mo. volume, half bound. 

BOLMAR'S BOOK OF FRENCH VERBS', wherein the Model Verbs, and seve- 
ral of the most difficult, are conjugated Affirmatively, Negatively, Interroga- 
tively, and. Negatively and Interrogatively, containing also numerous Notes 
and Directions on the Different Conjugations, not to be found in any other book 
published for the use of English scholars ; to which is added a complete list of 
all the Irregular verbs. In one 12mo. volume, half bound. 
The long and extended sale with which these works have been favoured, and 

the constantly increasing demand which exists for them, renders unnecessary any 

explanation or recommendation of their merits. 



BLANCHARD & LEA'S PUBLICATIONS.— (Educational) 11 

HERSCHELL'S ASTRONOMY. 



OUTLINES OF ASTRONOMY. 

BY SIR JOHN F. W, HERSCHEL, Bart., F.R.S., Ac. 

A New American, from the Fourth and Revised London Edition. 

In one handsome crown octavo volume, with numerous plates and wood-cuts. 

The present work is reprinted from the last London Edition, which was care- 
fully revised by the author, and in which he embodies the latest investigations and 
discoveries. It may therefore be regarded as fully on a level with the most ad- 
vanced state of the science, and even better adapted than its predecessors as a 
full and reliable text-book for advanced classes. 

A few commendatory notices are subjoined, from among a large number with 
which the publishers have been favored. 

A rich mine of all that is most valuable in modern Astronomy. — Professor D. Olmstead, 
Tale College. 

As a work of reference and study for the more advanced pupils, who yet are not prepared 
to avail themselves of the higher mathematics, I know of no work to be compared with 
it. — Prof. A. Caswell, Brown University, R. I. 

This treatise is too well known, and too highly appreciated in the scientific world, to need 
new praise. A distinguishing merit in this, as in the other productions of the author, is, 
that the language in which the profound reasonings of science are conveyed is so perspicuous 
that the writer's meaning can never be misunderstood. — Prof. Samuel Jones, Jefferson 
College, Pa. 

I know no treatise on Astronomy comparable to " Herschel's Outlines." It is admirably 
adapted to the necessities of the student. We have adopted it as a text-book in our Col- 
lege. — Prof. J. F. Crocker, Madison College, Pa. 

As far as I am able to judge, it is the best work of its class in any language. — Prof. James 
Curley, Georgetown College. 

It would not become me to speak of the scientific merits of such a work by such an author; 
but I may be allowed to say, that I most earnestly wish that it might supersede every book 
usod as a text-book on Astronomy in all our institutions, except perhaps those where it is 
studied mathematically. — Prof. N. TUlinghast, Bridgewater, Mass. 



CHEMICAL TEXT-BOOK FOR STUDENTS. (Just Issued.) 



ELEMENTARY CHEMISTRY, 

THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL. 

BY GEORGE FOWNES, Ph. D., &c. 

With Numerous Illustrations. 

A NEW AMERICAN, FROM THE LAST AND REVISED LONDON EDITION. EDITED, 
WITH ADDITIONS, 

BY ROBERT BRIDGES, M.D. 

In one large royal 12mo. volume, containing over 550 pages, clearly printed on 
small type, with 181 Illustrations on Wood. 

We know of no better text-book, especially in the difficult department of Organic Chemistry, 
upon which it is particularly full and satisfactory. We would recommend it to preceptors 
as a capital i; office-book" for their students who are beginners in Chemistry. It is copiously 
illustrated with excellent wood-cuts, and altogether admirably "got up." — N. J. Medical 
Reporter. 

A standard manual, which has long enjoyed the reputation of embodying much know- 
ledge in a small space. The author has achieved the difficult task of condensation with 
masterly tact. His book is concise without being dry, and brief without being too dog- 
matical or general. — Virginia Medical and Surgical Journal. 

The work of Dr. Fownes has long been before the public, and its merits have been fully 
appreciated as the best text-book on Chemistry now in existence. We do not, of course, 
place it in a rank superior to the works of Brande, Graham, Turner, Gregory, or Gmelin, 
but we say that, as a work for students, it is preferable to any of them.— London Journal of 
Medicine. 



12 BLANCHARD & LEA'S PUBLICATIONS.— (Educational) 



TEXT-BOOK OF SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY. (Just Issued.) 



OUTLINES OF SCRIPTURE GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY; 

Illustrating the Historical Portions of the Old and New Testaments. 

DESIGNED FOR THE USE OF SCHOOLS'' AND PRIVATE READING. 

BY EDWARD HUGHES, F.R.A.S., F.G.S., 

Head Master of the Royal Naval Lower School, Greenwich, &c. 

based upon coleman's historical geography op the bible. 

With twelve handsome Colored Maps. 

In one very neat royal 12nio. volume, extra cloth. 

The intimate connection of Sacred History with the geography and physical 
features of the various lands occupied by the Israelites, renders a work like the 
present an almost necessary companion to all who desire to read the Scriptures 
understandingly. To the young, especially, a clear and connected narrative of 
the events recorded in the Bible, is exceedingly desirable, particularly when 
illustrated, as in the present volume, with succinct but copious accounts of the 
neighboring nations, and of the topography and political divisions of the countries 
mentioned, coupled with the results of the latest investigations, by which Messrs. 
Layard, Lynch, Olin, Durbin, Wilson, Stephens, and others, have succeeded in 
throwing light on so many obscure portions of the Scriptures, verifying its accu- 
racy in minute particulars. Few more interesting class-books could therefore be 
found for schools where the Bible forms a part of education, anxLnone, perhaps, 
more likely to prove of permanent benefit to the scholar. The influence which 
the physical geography, climate, and productions of Palestine had upon the Jewish 
people will be found fully set forth, while the numerous maps present the various 
regions connected with the subject at their most prominent periods. 

We have given it considerable examination, and have been very favorably impressed with 
it as a work of rare excellence, and as well calculated to answer a demand, which, so far as 
our knowledge extends, has never yet been fully accomplished. — Evangelical Repository. 

We have read it with care, and can recommend it with confidence. Indeed, we do not 
know of a more convenient and reliable handbook for a pastor, Sunday-school teacher, or a 
general student to refer to for information in regard to Palestine, whether as to its physical 
features or its geography, its climate or its productions, its past history or its present con- 
dition. — Southern Presbyterian. 

It appears to contain, in a compressed form, a vast deal of important and accurate geogra- 
phical and historical information. I hope the book will have the wide circulation which its 
merits entitle it to. I shall not fail to recommend it so far as opportunity offers. — Prof. 
Samuel H. Turner, N. T. Theological Seminary. 

We have long needed just such a book, and as soon as possible we shall make it one of the 
text-books of our college. It should be a text-book in all our theological institutions. — Rev. 
Samuel Findlcy, President of Antrim College, Ohio. 

Few more interesting class-books, where the Bible is used in schools, can be found than the 
" Outlines of Scripture Geography and History," and it will prove, in families where the 
Bible is read, a valuable auxiliary to the understanding of that blessed volume. It is there- 
fore to be hoped that it will receive that patronage which it so richly deserves.— Rev. Eli- 
phalet Nott, President of Union College, N. Y. 

I have studied the greater portion of it with care, and find it so useful as a hook of 
reference, that I have placed it on the table with my Bible, as an aid to my daily Scripture 
readings. It is a book which ought to be in the hands of every biblical student, and I can- 
not but hope that it will have a wide circulation. To such as desire to borrow, I answer, 
"I cannot loan it, for I am obliged to refer to it daily!" — Prof E. Everett, New Orleans. 

It comprises the fullest and most instructive, as well as the most attractive course of 
lessons on its particular subjects that has hitherto been offered in the compass of a single 
volume. — William Russell, N. E. Normal Institute, Mass. 

Its thoroughness and comprehensiveness, combined with conciseness and portable size, 
and especially its neat and beautiful maps, render it peculiarly adapted to Bible-classes 
and Sabbath- Schools, and, indeed, to every religious family and every reader of the Bible. 
It is also very valuable to the student of Ancient History, whether sacred or profane. I 
have seen no work of the kind which pleases me so well. — Prof. Sturtevant, Illinois College. 

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